The coal ministry will approach the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) for clearances on a case-to-case basis, said Coal Minister Sri Prakash Jaiswal. "The MoEF will use its discretionary powers to decide whether clearance should be given — with or without conditions attached," he said.
The MoEF, which had framed the policy guidelines along with the Ministry of Coal, accepted that the categorisation of Go' and 'No-Go' did not have any legal sanctity, Jaiswal told CNBC-TV18.
The environment ministry's classification of nine major coal fields into 'Go' and 'No-Go' areas depending on the forest cover had impacted the coal output resulting in a widening demand supply mismatch. According to Planning Commission data, the power sector alone was losing potential production of 143,000 MW of power due to the MoEF policy.
Commenting on Coal India recent production shortfall, Jaiswal said, the drop has been mainly due to heavy rainfall. However, he is confident of the PSU major achieving 447 million tonne production target.
He also expects to resolve the brewing labour unrest at Coal India amicably. "We expect middle path to be found in wage revision in four to five months," he said adding, "…don’t see any major impact on Coal India due to wage revisions."
He said the additional burden due to increased wages could not be ascertained immediately as this would entirely depend upon the quantum of raise the Wage Committee decides.
Meanwhile, Jaiswal informed the bidding process for coal blocks will start in the next three-months. "The identification process of blocks will be completed by month-end," he said.
The coal minister expects a decision on removal of the Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index (CEPI) restrictions in two months.
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