The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has asked the Coal Ministry to furnish details of the coal blocks that are put out for fresh allocation.
It is, however, unlikely to offer any pre-clearances for the mines.
“The in-principle environment clearance for the coal blocks to be auctioned may not be possible,” Coal Secretary S.K. Srivastava told
The MoEF would identify ‘inviolate area’ and check if any of the coal blocks fall into such locations. Inviolate areas are areas where mining activities are not allowed. These may include forests, national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and Tiger reserves and elephant corridors.
The Coal Ministry might not put out blocks that fall into inviolate areas for auctioning, as they would evince no interest from bidders.
In addition, the blocks with coal-bed methane reserves have been kept aside from the fresh allocation list, Srivastava said.