Coal India Ltd has said inordinate delays in the receipt of green clearances for mining proposals have stalled the investment decisions on 67 new projects and also affected the expansion work in ongoing projects, translating into an annual production loss of 200 million tonnes.

“Our 168 projects are pending environment and forest clearances at the Centre and State levels. Sixty-seven of these projects are greenfield and we are unable to make any investment in these. Remaining are ongoing expansion schemes, which too have been stalled,” the Coal India Chairman, Mr N.C. Jha, told PTI.

The delays are hurting the production of 200 mt of coal per annum, he said adding that as per the stipulated procedure, forest clearances should be granted within 300 days. However, as per an assessment by the company, the process is taking as long as six years in some cases.

Apart from in-principle approval, which gets delayed by up to six years, final clearance takes an equally long time, he said.

“We have requested the Government to take an early decision on clearances so that we can proceed ahead on projects or estimate our reserves accordingly if mining is not allowed in some areas,” he said.

A total of 114 projects of the public sector firm are awaiting Stage-I clearance (in-principle approval), of which 92 projects are waiting for the green signal at the State level, while the remaining await the nod from the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF).

As far as Stage-II clearance (final approval) is concerned, 54 proposals are stuck, including 31 at the State level, Mr Jha said.

Coal India contributes over 82 per cent of domestic coal production and accounted for a production of 431 mt last fiscal. The company has set a 452-mt output target for the current fiscal.

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