MoEF gives its nod for JSPL's plants in Orissa

The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) on Monday gave its conditional go-ahead to Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) for its six mtpa (million tonnes per annum) integrated steel plant and 1,000 Mw captive power plant in Orissa, which was stalled for some months. The Ministry had issued a showcause notice to the company in November 2010, asking reasons for not revoking earlier clearances.

This is the latest instance, where Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh is seen to have softened his stand on issues on which he was quite rigid earlier.

Recently, the minister gave a conditional clearance to South Korean steel-maker Posco for its $12-billion steel plant and also to SAIL for extracting iron ore from the Chiria mines in Jharkhand.

On November 22, 2010, the Ministry had issued a showcause notice to Jindal Steel and Power under Section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, asking the company to furnish more data in order to be granted the required environmental clearance for the six mtpa integrated steel plant and the captive power plant at Angul.

On December 7, 2010, JSPL requested the Ministry to grant one month’s time for furnishing the reply. The Ministry, in the same month granted extension of two weeks time and asked JSPL to respond by December 22, 2010. A personal hearing was also fixed on December 29, 2010.

JSPL gave additional documents sought by the Ministry in January 2011. The Ministry has now added six additional conditions which JSPL has to follow, failing which the “Ministry will be forced to take necessary action”. The directions given include that the company shall adopt dry quenching of coke to conserve water and mitigate pollution and the fly ash generated should be used for cement and brick manufacturing.

The company should not use fly ash in filling low-lying areas as proposed earlier. The company should earmark two per cent of their net profit for corporate social responsibility (CSR).

The company shall monitor the air quality and stack emissions in respect to PM10, SO2 and mercury. Drawal of water from the Derjang dam should be avoided and rain harvesting measures taken. Energy conservation measures for an integrated steel plant should be introduced.

Reacting to the conditional nod JSPL said: “The company will comply with all directions given in the MoEF communication”. Earlier in the month, Jindal Steel and Power had said it would commence phase-I of its three mtpa steel plant in Angul district of Orissa by the end of this year.

The company, which is headed by a senior Congress MP Naveen Jindal, plans to invest Rs 40,000 crore in Orissa to produce 12.5 mtpa steel in phases and generate 2,500 Mw of power over the next decade. The company is investing Rs 45,000 crore for coal gasification.