Cleared projects worth Rs1.5 lakh crore: Moily
13 Jan 2014 10:44 PM GMT
Environment Minister M Veerappa Moily on Sunday said that he has cleared projects worth Rs 1.5 lakh crore since he took over the additional charge of the ministry last month.
The key approvals accorded include the one for Posco's $12-billion steel plant in Odisha.
Moily, who took over the additional portfolio last month from Jayanti Natarajan, plans to clear the backlog before end of the month.
‘I have cleared projects worth Rs 1.5 lakh crore since taking over,’ he told reporters here.
The minister said while the Posco project was approved on 7 January, Vedanta's Niyamgiri project has been rejected because if opposition to it by the majority of village bodies.
South Korean giant Posco got environmental clearance to build Rs 52,000-crore steel plant in Odisha, ending eight years of wait for a project that would involve the largest ever foreign direct investment in India.
The clearance is conditional to Posco spending on ‘social commitments’, which will raise the project cost by $600 million to $12.6 billion.
The approval came after the steel plant was delinked from the port project. The nod will pave the way for Posco to build a steel plant with an annual capacity of 12 million tonnes.
In Vedanta's case, the ministry had refused the next stage forest clearance to OMC (Odisha Mining Corporation) and Sterlite's (Vedanta group firm) mining project in Niyamgiri Hills area in Lanjigarh, Kalahandi and Rayagada districts, accepting the Forest Advisory Committee's (FAC) recommendation for withdrawal of the clearance.
The Supreme Court had stalled Vedanta Group's bauxite mining in Odisha till gram sabhas of Rayagada and Kalahandi districts in the state gave clearances.
The key approvals accorded include the one for Posco's $12-billion steel plant in Odisha.
Moily, who took over the additional portfolio last month from Jayanti Natarajan, plans to clear the backlog before end of the month.
‘I have cleared projects worth Rs 1.5 lakh crore since taking over,’ he told reporters here.
The minister said while the Posco project was approved on 7 January, Vedanta's Niyamgiri project has been rejected because if opposition to it by the majority of village bodies.
South Korean giant Posco got environmental clearance to build Rs 52,000-crore steel plant in Odisha, ending eight years of wait for a project that would involve the largest ever foreign direct investment in India.
The clearance is conditional to Posco spending on ‘social commitments’, which will raise the project cost by $600 million to $12.6 billion.
The approval came after the steel plant was delinked from the port project. The nod will pave the way for Posco to build a steel plant with an annual capacity of 12 million tonnes.
In Vedanta's case, the ministry had refused the next stage forest clearance to OMC (Odisha Mining Corporation) and Sterlite's (Vedanta group firm) mining project in Niyamgiri Hills area in Lanjigarh, Kalahandi and Rayagada districts, accepting the Forest Advisory Committee's (FAC) recommendation for withdrawal of the clearance.
The Supreme Court had stalled Vedanta Group's bauxite mining in Odisha till gram sabhas of Rayagada and Kalahandi districts in the state gave clearances.
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