After an “unreasonable” delay of more than 18 months, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has finally granted clearance to Jindal Power Limited (JPL) for its 2,400 MW power project at Tamnar in Chhattisgarh to enable commencement of construction work as the state environment conservation board (ECB) also gave the go-ahead to the project on Tuesday.
According to a JPL statement here, the project was to come up by the end of the XI Plan in March 2012, but for the “unreasonable delays in getting environmental clearances (EC). While the Ministry had granted EC for two units of 600 MW each of the expansion project (4 x 600 MW) at Tamnar on March 18 this year, clearance for the remaining two units was accorded only on November 4.
The March 18 approval had put a condition that JPL should obtain permission from the Ministry of Coal before starting construction activities at the project site.
The Coal Ministry has since communicated its permission for the expansion project to the Chhattisgarh Government.
The statement pointed out that JPL had earlier decided to set up the main plant for the 2,400 MW expansion project within the 360 hectare premises of its 1,000 MW units which was approved by MoEF in 1997 and thus entailing no requirement for additional land. The 1,000 MW power project is currently fully operational.
JPL had placed orders for four units of 600 MW on the public sector power equipment major Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) in early 2009, the statement said.
