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Essar’s Mahan Coal Ltd has received the stage II forest clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forests for the coal block in Madhya Pradesh subject to conditions.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Essar said Mahan Coal Ltd will have to sign a mining lease agreement with Madhya Pradesh before commencing operations.
This coal block was allotted in 2006. Essar Power, subsidiary of Essar Energy, owns 50 per cent stake in Mahan Coal Ltd, along with Hindalco Industries.
However, green activists expressed discontent with this development. They said this was the latest in the line of the Ministry’s new mandate to extend hasty clearances to infrastructure projects without giving due importance to environmental and social concerns.
Activists on the ground and villagers alleged that signatures of several villagers on the gram sabha resolution, showing consent for the project, were forged.
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