CSE analysed the status of environmental clearances (ECs) for the period November – December 2015 cleared by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC). Analysis of clearances for certain development sectors including mining, iron and steel, and cement suggested that a total of 29 projects were cleared during this period. Data from the EC letters made available by the MoEF&CC as of 15th January, 2016 has been used for the analysis.
| Sector | Number of projects | Capacity (MTPA) |
| Coal | 2 | 8 |
| Limestone | 2 | 9.66 |
| Sand and Other Minerals* | 22 | 14.488 |
| Granite | 5 | 0.1 |
| Iron & Steel | 8 | 0.43 |
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*Sand and other minerals include gravel, stone, boulders, silica and bajri. |
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Highlights:
-A total of 39 projects with a cumulative capacity of 32.67MTPA were awarded environment clearance between November to December 2015 in the above sectors.
- Unlike the previous 2 months which witnessed major clearances for the cement sector, there was not a single project from this sector that received environment clearance in the months of November and December.
- Mining of sand and other minerals like gravel, silica and stone received a major push in these months. A total of 22 projects with a capacity of 14.488 MTPA were awarded environmental clearance.
- Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh have been the biggest contributors to sand mining. The Forest Development Corporation of Uttarakhand is also among the project proponents for sand mining.
-All 5 cases of Granite mining have been reported from the state of Andhra Pradesh.
-2 big limestone projects received clearance in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
-Another important highlight in this period has been the clearance awarded to 3 big hydropower projects in West Siang District of Andhra Pradesh. Interestingly, these projects also received ‘in principle’ clearance from the MoEF&CC in October 2015.
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