In a note to the GoM chaired by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, the power ministry has asked the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) to accord forest and environmental clearances to all pending proposals on a fast track basis. Power secretary P Uma Shankar called upon Jairam Ramesh's ministry to “consider all such cases on their individual merits without prejudicing its mind with the ‘go, no go' exercise". Since the exercise had no legal locus standi, it should be forsaken, he said.
According to the power ministry, the problem of coal shortage will become acute in 2011-12 as state-run behemoth Coal India Limited (CIL) has informed the Planning Commission recently that it can supply only 331 million tonnes as against a requirement of 426 MT. Presenting a worrisome picture, the ministry has told the GoM that the immediate impact of coal shortage would result in the plants which were commissioned in 2009-10 (totalling 5,593 MW) would operate at just 42 per cent of their stipulated Plant Load Factor (PLF). Read the full report here.
Source: Priyadarshi Siddhanta, Indian Express, New Delhi.
