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The State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) has proposed levy of environment cess at the rate of Rs 10 per tonne for standalone and pithed coal washery projects. The proceeds would go to the Odisha Environment Fund.
The minimum size of a coal washery is likely to be pegged at one million tonne per annum (mtpa). All coal washery plants would be based on automation.
Water levy on coal washery projects would be three times the normal water rate if the developer uses fresh surface water. Such units would not be permitted to use ground water.
The state government would allow establishment of coal washery in the premises of sponge iron plants or integrated steel plants only if such plants have FBC (fluidised bed combustion) boilers or CBFC (circulating fluidised bed combustion boilers) to consume the rejects generated from the washery and use it for power generation. Since washery rejects are often dumped in the open that causes water and air pollution, it has been proposed that the washeries should mandatorily enter into an agreement with a power generator who will use 100 per cent of these rejects. Establishment of coal washery plants beyond a certain distance would not be allowed.
