June 5: In the wake of a ministers’ panel failing to achieve a consensus on the environment clearances for the power, coal and steel projects, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, has called a meeting of the concerned ministers on June 7.
Streamlining forestry and environment clearances for quick taking off of new projects and giving limit of 150 days for such approvals, are expected to be the main items on the agenda of the high-level meeting, sources said. A Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by the finance minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, has been grappling with the inter-ministerial differences on “go” and “no-go” mining areas.
According to the earlier guidelines which are being resisted by the infrastructure ministries, mining is allowed only in “go” areas where there are no dense forests. The GoM has met twice in February and April without a success on resolving the differences as the environment ministry does not seem to be agreeing to these norms. Sources said the Prime Minister’s meeting would also review moratorium on projects which are not able to meet the environment measuring index. The other issues likely to come up for discussion include seeking cooperation from coal-producing states in addressing the problems relating to land acquisition, rehabilitation and law and order. The meet will also take stock of the performance of the key infrastructure sectors like power, coal and steel at the terminal year of the 11th Five Year Plan. Demand supply gap for coal in the current fiscal has been estimated at 142 million tonnes by the Planning Commission.