Can be 'more aggressive' with environmental clearances: Rahul Gandhi

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi Saturday said that while plunder of the environment cannot be allowed, India could be "more aggressive" in granting environmental clearances for projects.

The Congress vice president said the problem was the exercise of "arbitrary power", and this could be remedied if a framework of rules was adhered to. He was speaking in the national capital at a meeting of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

"We cannot do development by destroying the environment but there is a middle path. One can be more aggressive than we are currently being," the Gandhi scion said.

"The real issue in all these things, whether it is environment or land acquisition, is arbitrary power," he said, adding that the creation of a "rules framework" and "taking away arbitrary power" would solve the problem.

"To build a modern country, we need to change and build rules and structure," he said.