In the past week, the minister has cleared at least nine coal blocks earlier caught in the go/no-go maze since 2009. The blocks were allotted to NTPC, the Oriss Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP), Orissa Power Generation Corporation (OPGC) and Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd (RRVUNL), among others.
On June 23, Ramesh had given approval to opening the Tara, Parsa East and Kante Basan blocks in the Hasdeo-Arand forest region of Chhattisgarh. The blocks were opened despite the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) recommending against it.
The ministry of coal had awarded the Parsa East and Kente Basan coal blocks to RRVUNL to feed two thermal power projects in Rajasthan. The Adani Group and RRVUNL had formed a joint venture firm, Parsa Kente Collieries Ltd, to develop these mines. Tara was allotted to Chhattisgarh Mineral Development Corporation. Read the full report here.
Source: Piyali Mandal & Sudheer Pal Singh, Business Standard, New Delhi.
