New Delhi | April 04, 2015 : Those winning the coal mines in auction have been exempted by the Environment and Forests Ministry from seeking fresh environment clearance as a measure to fast-track production and prevent the shortages to the coal-based industries because of the cancellation of all the coal mine allocations by the Supreme Court last year.
The coal mines so far auctioned are those whose allocations were cancelled by the Supreme Court ruling and as such the environment clearance certificate issued to the previous allottee will be valid for the new allottee.
The ministry has also amended the EIA notification of September 2006 to waive the requirement of the ‘no objection’ certificate from the previous owners of these mines. The gazette notification issued on March 23 says wherever an allocation of coal block is cancelled in any legal proceedings or by the government in accordance with law, the environment clearance granted in respect of such block may be transferred subject to the same validity period as was initially granted to any legal person to whom such block is subsequently allocated.
A ministry official clarified that the amendment makes it clear that the new owner of the coal block need not obtain a ‘no objection’ from either the holder of the original environment clearance or from the concerned regulatory authority. Also, no reference be made to the Expert Appraisal Committee or the state Expert Appraisal Committee.
The notification was issued after the new coal block allottees expressed fear that the old allottees may create problems in transferring the environment clearance certificates and thus delaying the start of the mining operations.
The Centre has auctioned 33 blocks in two phases at high prices, surpassing the Rs 1.86 lakh crore loss estimated by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India for allotment of over 200 coal blocks. Though the Centre auctioned the mines, the money so earned will go to the state governments of the concerned states. The third round of auction of 16 more coal blocks is expected later this month.
(Source: http://www.freepressjournal.in/)