Press Information Bureau

Government of India

Ministry of Coal

18-December-2012 12:19 IST

Issues pertaining to Environmental Clearance & Forestry Clearance, Land Acquisition, R&R and coal evacuation infrastructure are the important for achieving the envisaged coal production targets by Coal India Ltd. (CIL). CIL and the Government have taken the following actions to address these issues:

(i) Vigorous follow up action with land acquisition officials of State Govts. to expedite acquisition proceedings.

(ii) Regular meetings with State Authorities viz. Land Revenue Commissioner, LR secretary are held to sort out acute problems.

(iii) Forest Officials are contacted on regular basis at District & Tehsil level to fulfil the requirement & queries. Periodical contacts are done with the Regional Office of MOEF, New Delhi for expediting clearance of the forestry proposals.

(iv) State & MOEF officials are regularly contacted & meetings held at all levels to expedite environmental clearance proposals specially for PH dates & proposals pending for final clearances.

(v) Discussions are held with the land owners/villagers for selection of rehabilitation site and also to persuade them to shift to the rehabilitation site.

(vi) Ministry of Coal is addressing the issues by taking up the same with concerned authorities at State level and Central level on regular basis with a view to expedite pending clearances and also with Ministry of Railways regarding pending rail projects for coal evacuation.

It is proposed to enhance production through taking up new projects in CIL and development of captive coal blocks already allotted to various companies in public and private sector. In addition, the gap between demand & supply is proposed to be met through imports. Government has already accorded Navratna status to CIL and Miniratna status to 6 of the subsidiaries for enhanced autonomy in decision taking.

This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Coal, Shri Pratik Prakashbapu Patil in a written reply in Lok sabha today.

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NCJ/RV

Environmental and forestry clearances accelerated through coordinated state centre engagement to expedite coal project approvals and infrastructure. Measures concentrate on expediting environmental and forestry clearances, land acquisition, rehabilitation and resettlement, and coal evacuation infrastructure through sustained intergovernmental coordination, regular engagement with land revenue and forest authorities, liaison with regional environmental offices, community consultation on rehabilitation sites, and follow up with rail and state agencies to accelerate pending clearances and projects supporting enhanced coal production.