Coal news and updates

MoEFCC to bring out standard TOR for 39 sectors

April 16: In a bid to ease the process of granting environmental clearances (EC), the MoEFCC has introduced standard terms of references (TOR) for 39 industrial sectors, MoEFCC Secretary Ashok Lavasa said.

“We have come out with standard TOR for EIA for 39 sectors. However, the ministry holds the right to prescribe additional TOR if the need arises,” Lavasa said at the International Conference on Coal Washing in India, being held in Delhi.

“The ministry is working to make its policies easy and transparent, but we need cooperation from the industry to make the enforcement regime effective,” he said.

Commenting on the easing of the process, Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) Chairman and Managing Director A N Sahay said, “The standard TOR will bring down the time for project clearances very significantly, by six months or so.”