The Group of Ministers on coal and environmental issues hurting power generation in the country is believed have accepted the recommendation of the B K Chaturvedi Committee for granting clearance to projects in environmentally sensitive zones on a case-to-case basis.
“The B K Chaturvedi report has been accepted by the Group of Ministers... But that does not mean that all the projects in the “no-go” area will now automatically fall in the ‘go’ area, they would be dealt with on a case-to-case basis,” a Power Ministry official told PTI.
However, another ministry official said the issues highlighted by the Chaturvedi Committee have almost been resolved and the Power Ministry is awaiting the minutes of the meeting of the Group of Ministers.
The Chaturvedi Committee had said that the ‘no-go’ and ’go’ classification of areas has no legal sanctity and clearance of coal blocks for power projects should not be based on that.
In 2009, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) had categorised 203 coal blocks as “no-go” zones, which meant that mining activities cannot take place in those areas as they may prove detrimental to the environment.
The output from these blocks could generate around 1.3 lakh MW of power per annum, as per the estimates of the Coal Ministry.
The Power Ministry may miss its target of adding 62,000 MW of electricity by the end of the current Five-Year Plan (2007-12), as some of the projects have been stalled due to the “no-go” and “go” issue.
In the previous meeting of the GoM, the matter of relocating NTPC’s 1,980-MW North Karanpura plant from coal-bearing region in Jharkhand was referred to a sub-committee.
The sub-committee, headed by Planning Commission member Mr B K Chaturvedi, will submit its report on the issue to the GoM within a month.
The proposed relocation of the proposed power plant of NTPC, as the plant is planned in an area that has six billion tonnes of coal reserves, has been hanging fire because of a divergent views expressed by the ministries of coal and power on the issue.
The Coal Ministry has argued in favour of relocating the proposed plant, but the Power Ministry has opposed the move, following which the matter was referred to the ministerial panel earlier this year.