New Delhi, Jun 16 (PTI) The Centre on Wednesday said the government is planning to simplify the green clearances required for the quick operationalisation of mining projects, including coal.

It assumes significance as mining projects in various states face delays in production due to lack of approvals such as forest and environment clearance.

"(With regard to) EC (environment clearance) and FC (forest clearance), we are actually trying to do something with the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF). I think some simplification is going to be done.

"The secretary MoEF...told us in a meeting that EC, FC norms are of course friendlier so that we will able to have operation in a quicker way," Coal Additional Secretary M Nagaraju said.

He was speaking during the Virtual Chhattisgarh Mining Summit organised by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The additional secretary also stressed that the state government should ensure that the mines that are allotted are operationalised at the earliest by hand-holding the allottees and holding regular meetings, among others.

"Expect these two clearances (EC and FC), rest of clearances come from the state government. In fact, for EC and FC, a lot depends on the efficiency of the state government's forest department.

"So, state governments, Chhattisgarh and other state government, they all need to partner the entrepreneurs in quicker operation of coal mines or any mines for that matter, because you should not lock the capital for long time," Nagaraju said.

Any delay in operationalisation of mines will give risk to the capital invested and it gives a bad reputation to the industry as such, he added.

"If there is a quicker operationalisation (of mines), the banking industry will also see that this (mining industry) is more efficient and they would be able to lend more," he said.

Nagaraju also said there is a need to bring in small- and medium-scale entrepreneurs into the mining business.

"Some of the large industrialists are there (in the mining industry).

"In fact, we should dispel the notion that the mining business is only for large industrialists or big industrialists...we need to encourage these people (small- and medium-scale entrepreneurs)," he said. HRS hrs

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