Environment Ministry delinks clearances of coal mines from power projects

In order to speed up the implementation of ultra-mega power projects, the Environment and Forests Ministry has issued a notification that power stations of such projects will no longer be linked to clearance of their captive coal blocks.

As per the earlier rule, mines and power stations were considered a single component for green clearances and until a coal block received stage-I forest clearance, the power plant could not apply for environmental approvals. Such delays in getting approval for a mine impacted the commissioning of the power plants further.

Power Ministry has been urging the Environment Ministry to change the procedure for forest clearance. Meanwhile, Power Finance Corporation (PFC) has invited bids for the 4,000 MW project at Bedabahal in Odisha, which is likely to be awarded in February. Nine power developers including Jindal Steel, Power, Tata Power, NTPC and Adani Power are in the fray to bag the 4,000 MW power plant at Bedabahal, which will use domestic coal from three major coal blocks in region such as Meenakshi, Meenakshi-B and dip side of Meenakshi.