Putting an end to the face-off between the National Highways Authority of India and Ministry of Environment & Forests, the latter has delinked environmental and forest clearances in case of all

Work could soon begin in a clutch of stranded highway projects with likely combined investments of over R20,000 crore, as the Union environment ministry is set to give them approvals in one go.

Yet to achieve financial closure for project because of pending draft agreement

The West Bengal government has upped the ante against JSW Steel and charged it with delaying the Salboni steel and power project. At Rs 35,000 crore, the investment for the project is the largest in the state. Questioning JSW's intentions, Partha Chatterjee, West Bengal industry minister, today said if the company continued to dilly-dally, it could be asked to return the land. "I am fed up with the company. It seems they have no intention of taking the project forward. We have waited enough. They have been talking about the iron ore problem. But that is not the state government's responsibility. They are raising one issue after another," Chatterjee said.

In a move that could give a fillip to India's unconventional gas production, the ministry of environment and forests has given the phase-III clearance for Essar Oil's Raniganj block in West Bengal. The company will now be able to drill up to 650 wells, compared with the current 135.

The clearances would help Essar Oil invest another Rs 2,500 crore to increase the number of drilled wells to 300 by the end of this year and also rise production to three million standard cubic metres of gas per day (scmd), up from around 60,000 scmd.

The company's order for forest clearance to transport around 1.6 lakh tonnes of bauxite mined from Kolhapur district

The National Green Tribunal has dismissed Hindalco's plea challenging the Maharashtra government's refusal to grant it three more months, after expiry of its forest clearance, to transport around 1.6 lakh tonnes of bauxite mined from Kolhapur district. A bench headed by Justice V R Kingaonkar also declined to direct the state government to forward the company's proposal, for more time, to the Centre for grant of approval.

PANJIM: The Union Ministry of Mines dropped a bombshell Friday, by shooting a copy of the letter addressed to Orissa government to all State governments which says that basic Central government permissions were needed before renewal of mining leases and permissions from the Indian Bureau of Mines and assessment of amount of mineral left in the lease, feasibility and other such criteria need to be adhered to.

The two-page directions received by State Directorate of Mines come on the heels of the communiqué from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests stating that leases cannot be renewed in case any part of the mining lease comes within forest areas and for which forest clearance has to be obtained.

BHUBANESWAR: Under the microscope for allegedly engaging in illegalities, several mine owners on Wednesday raised objections before the Justice M B Shah Commission to the manner in which boundaries of mines were determined using satellite images.

Various miners, represented by prominent lawyers, strongly pleaded before the inquiry commission for a fresh physical verification of the boundaries of different mines.