Moily to clear environmental approval backlog by mid-February

After approving projects worth Rs 1.5 lakh crore in the first three weeks, Environment Minister M Veerappa Moily today said he has decided on 55 other projects and will clear the backlog by mid-February.
"I have cleared 55 pending cases...In some cases (environment) approval has been accorded and there are also some where it has not been because of procedures not being followed," he said here.
Moily, however, did not give details of the projects he had decided upon during the past week.
Moily said he had in the initial three weeks approved Rs 1.5 lakh crore worth of projects, including South Korean giant Posco's USD 12-billion steel plant in Odisha.

"I believe in quick decision-making. I don't think it is right to keep decisions pending," he said.
Moily, who is also the Oil Minister, took additional charge of the Ministry of Environment and Forests from Jayanti Natarajan on December 24, and plans to clear the backlog by mid-February.

"I will clear all projects in next 20 days...Certainly by the middle of February all pending cases will be decided upon," he said.
The minister said that while Posco's project was approved on January 7, Vedanta's Niyamgiri project was rejected because of opposition by the majority of village bodies.
South Korean giant Posco got environmental clearance to build the Rs 52,000-crore steel plant in Odisha, ending an eight-year wait for a project entailing the largest foreign direct investment in India.

The approval is conditional on Posco spending on "social commitments," which will increase the project cost by USD 600 million to USD 12.6 billion.
The nod came after the steel plant was delinked from the port project and paves the way for Posco to build the steel plant with an annual capacity of 12 million tonnes.
In Vedanta's case, the ministry refused the next-stage forest clearance to Odisha Mining Corporation and Vedanta Group's mining project in the Niyamgiri Hills area in Lanjigarh, Kalahandi and Rayagada districts, accepting the Forest Advisory Committee's recommendation for withdrawal of the clearance.
The Supreme Court had stalled bauxite mining in Odisha until the gram sabhas of Rayagada and Kalahandi districts gave their clearances.