Environmental nod for Tatas Rs 20K cr C'garh plant

An Environment Ministry panel has given in-principle approval for Tata Steel's proposed Rs 20,000 crore steel plant in Chhattisgarh, which has been hanging fire for over five years now.

In a recent meeting, a high-powered committee of the ministry recommended granting environmental clearance to the steel major's 5.5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) steel plant at Bastar, Chhattisgarh, a senior government official said.

However, the official said the company would have to follow certain conditions, such as taking forest clearance under the Forest Act and following pollution control norms, before final environment clearance was granted to the project.

"The Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) has granted green nod on the conditions that forest clearance under the Forest (Conservation) Act has to be obtained before construction on the forest land could be initiated," the official said.

 

Out of 1,565 hectares of plant area, 105 hectares is forest land, for which clearance is yet to be obtained.

"At least 5 per cent of the total cost of the project should be earmarked towards corporate social responsibility and item-wise details, along with a time-bound action plan, should be prepared and submitted to the ministry," the EAC has said.

The company has already earmarked about Rs 1,700 crore for environmental pollution control measures. The steel major has proposed to set up a 5.5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) steel plant along with a 625-Mw captive power plant in Chhattisgarh.

The panel has also asked the steel major to develop a green belt on 516 hectares of land out of the 1,565 hectares acquired by the company for the project.

Tata Steel signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Chhattisgarh government on the steel project in 2005. However, the project has been mired in protests over land acquisition by locals and delays in receipt of regulatory clearances.

Global steel majors ArcelorMittal and Posco have been facing similar hurdles in launching their own steel projects in Orissa and Jharkhand, which involve a cumulative investment of around Rs 1.5 lakh crore.