With delays plaguing 39 coal mining projects, the coal ministry has decided to approach the Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI) for clearing the hurdles. The newly-formed CCI is expected to take up these projects in its next meeting likely within a fortnight.

In a note to the CCI on December 27, the coal ministry said while delayed environment clearances may wreak havoc on its production plans, there are other bottlenecks which have hampered operations of its planned power projects entailing an investment of nearly Rs 14,000 crore.

With delays plaguing 39 coal mining projects, the coal ministry has decided to approach the Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI) for clearing the hurdles.

The newly-formed CCI is expected to take up these projects in its next meeting likely within a fortnight. In a note to the CCI on December 27, the coal ministry said while delayed environment clearances may wreak havoc on its production plans, there are other bottlenecks which have hampered operations of its planned power projects entailing an investment of nearly Rs 14,000 crore.

The State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC) has deferred its recommendation for environmental clearance to the first phase of the SmartCity Kochi project based on the inference that “the proposal submitted by the proponent had many factual errors and lacked a specific plan of environmental management”.

Stating that the SEAC had expressed its displeasure in drafting the ambitious project of the State government in such a very casual manner, sources told The Hindu that the promoter has failed to seriously consider many of the environmental factors while drafting the proposal.

Major procedural amendments, including exemption from environment clearances, for roads projects are being proposed to the Cabinet Committee on Investment to achieve the UPA government's commitment

Amid West Bengal government's repeated appeal to lift moratorium on environment clearance in highly-polluting industrial regions of Haldia and Asansol, a top Environment ministry official on Tuesday said the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) would take a decision on the same after evaluating the ongoing study in the region.

“The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has hired an independent agency to conduct a fresh study on all regions like Haldia and Durgapur where moratorium was imposed. The report is expected to come on March 15.

The newly-formed Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI) is likely to approve automatic extension of environment clearances when it meets on Thursday, sources said. The move will not only do away with the tedious process of environment and forest clearance, but also free up over 65 million tonne (MT) additional coal annually, according to sources.

Last year, the environment ministry had made it mandatory for companies setting up projects to obtain forest clearance (FC) before applying for environment clearance (EC), where diversion of forest land is required. The guideline was later modified, allowing parallel processing for both EC and FC.

Now, environmental clearances have to be sought two years in advance

PANJIM: The Centre’s directive that all mining leases, due for renewal, have to apply for environmental clearance two years in advance of the expiry of the lease, could further complicate matters for the mining industry, as a majority of the mines in the State are up for renewal.

The State government has started the process of renewal of leases after the deemed renewal regime was practiced for so long.

The High Court yesterday directed the authorities concerned to immediately stop construction of six brick kilns in Dumuria upazila of Khulna for the next six months.

The woes of investors in highway projects don't seem to end. The new guidelines issued by the environment ministry, allowing work on non-forest land while clearance for projects involving diversion of forest land is pending, are cumbersome and would not facilitate investments, developers feel.

According to official sources, the developers have written to the environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan, roads minister CP Joshi, NHAI Chairman RP Singh and the department of economic affairs in finance ministry, stating that the condition that in order to begin work in non-forest land, the user agency must explicitly provide for a “technically feasible alternative alignment” for segments that fall in forest land is too difficult to be complied with.