The decision was taken after a three-hour meeting at the ministry of coal where environment minister Jairam Ramesh discussed the issue with coal minister Shri Prakash Jaiswal.
The Ministry of Coal has finally been able to resolve the controversial issue of go-no policy for coal mining with the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF).
The decision was taken after a three-hour meeting at the ministry of coal where environment minister Jairam Ramesh discussed the issue with coal minister Shri Prakash Jaiswal.
The meeting was held to discuss the issue of the projects of Coal India Ltd.
“75% of the problem has been solved today... we will solve the remaining issue in the coming days,” said Jaiswal, after the meeting.
After a joint exercise with coal ministry, the environment ministry had listed about 35% of forest area in 9 major coal mining zones as no go for mining.
The categorisation of no-go areas had resulted in a huge problem for world’s largest coal mining company Coal India Ltd that saw 44% of its mining area falling under this category.
The Ministry of Coal had managed to take the matter to the cabinet secretariat that announced formation of a 13-member group of ministers (GoM) to resolve the issue. However, Ramesh decided to resolve the issue even before the first meeting of the proposed GoM.
Recently Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had asked MoEF to re-look at its stance on the no-go issue as it was hindering coal production in the country.
Coal India accounts for 80% of India’s coal production. The company in its red herring prospectus for its IPO in 2010 had said it will get environment clearance for coal mining in some of the no go areas by end of current financial year.
Under the compromise, the ministry will give conditional clearances and Coal India will have to take additional steps to minimise impact of mining on local environment and forests.
While Thursday’s meeting was held to discuss the issue of no-go mining areas that belong to Coal India, it is unclear whether the environment ministry will take a similar stance for other coal mining blocks that belong to the private sector.
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