The Inter-Ministerial Group will meet next week to decide the fate of another 10 coal blocks allocated to companies including JSW Steel, JSPL, Tata Steel, Hindalco and Essar Power which are yet to obtain forest clearance.
"The 26th meeting of the IMG under the Chairmanship of Additional Secretary (Coal) will be held on February 25...To consider the cases of allocatees...Who were required to obtain forest clearance (stage-II)," according to the Coal Ministry's meeting notice.
It follows the panel's recommending the deallocation of 29 coal blocks.
The 10 coal blocks where stage-II forest clearance is pending include Rohne coal block in Jharkhand - jointly allocated to JSW Steel and Bhushan Power and Steel Ltd; Jitpur coal blocks in Jharkhand - allocated to Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL); Brinda and Sasai coal block in Jharkhand - allocated to Abhijeet Infrastructure Ltd, and Mahan coal block in Madhya Pradesh jointly allocated to Essar Power Ltd and Hindalco Industries Ltd.
The ministry has also asked the allocattees of the 10 coal blocks to attend the meeting and make presentations before the IMG regarding their preparedness for obtaining stage II forest clearance.
It has also requested three states -- Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh -- to nominate a representative from each state to attend the meeting.
The Coal Ministry had recently asked the Environment Ministry to assess the feasibility of grant of forest clearances (stage II) with regard to the 10 coal blocks and send its comments by this week.
It had further said that since the IMG would be required to assess the situation with regard to grant of FC within a reasonable time period, it is considered necessary to co-opt a representative of MoEF on the panel.
IMG, set up under the chairmanship of Additional Secretary, Coal to review the progress of development of captive coal blocks alloted to private companies, has members from various ministries, including steel and power.
