The Coal Ministry has asked the inter-ministerial panel to introduce an online mechanism for granting green clearance to projects.
At a meeting held a few days ago under the chairmanship of Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, who is also heading an inter-ministerial panel on issues hurting coal production, the Coal Minister, Mr Sriprakash Jaiswal, had requested for introduction of a new system for granting clearances.
“Aimed at expediting the process of clearances to projects awaiting forestry and environment go-ahead, the Coal Minister had requested the Finance Minister for an online system for granting clearances (both forestry and environment) to the projects,” a top Coal Ministry official said.
“The minister had asked for the new mechanism as it would not only be transparent but would also be less time-consuming,” the official added.
At present, around 168 projects of Coal India, which account for over 80 per cent of the domestic coal production, are awaiting environment and forestry clearances at the Centre and state-levels. Sixty seven of these projects are greenfield and the remaining are ongoing expansion schemes, the company had said.