Mineral block auction: Govt mulls single window for green clearances

Stating that there were issues in obtaining environment and other clearances for mineral blocks, the government Wednesday said it is trying to put a single window clearance system in place.

"Clearances like environment, forest and land rights ...are an issue. Its not very easy to get clearances. There are delays in the process...We are trying to put single window clearance in place," Mines Joint Secretary Anil Kumar Nayak said while addressing the Fourth India Copper Forum here.

In June, Nayak, had said that unless issues related to green clearances and land rights were addressed upfront, India may not make much progress in auctioning of mineral blocks in the future.

Earlier, the steel ministry had said that it was totally in favour of a single window system.

The government had said that the ministries of mines, steel and environment were working together in this regard.

Addressing the event here, Sterlite Copper CEO P Ramnath said that demand of copper in future would go up but posed a question as to how will the increasing need of the metal in India will be met when the expansion projects and currents plants in the country were being shutdown "for no reason at all".

The Tamil Nadu government had in May ordered the pollution control board to seal and "permanently" close Vedanta's Sterlite Copper unit in the state, following violent protests over pollution concerns.

"It is very very clear that the copper demand in the future is going to rise on...But to make a question now is how we are going to cater to this increasing demand of copper in our country when the expansion projects and current plants in the country are being shutdown for no reason at all," Ramnath said.

Around 50 mineral blocks have been auctioned so far since 2015. The government will earn a revenue of Rs 1.81 lakh crore over the lease period from these blocks.