Cement Energy and Environment

Gujarat, a 5-MW plant in West Bengal, and a 5-MW plant in Rajasthan -worth $140 million in total. These plants are part of the JNNSM, under which India hopes to increase the production of solar energy to 1000 MW in 2013 and 20 000 MW by 2022, up from about 5 MW now. Courtesy: TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute) Newswire, 16-31 January 2011, P13. Environment JAIRAM TO INCLUDE INDUSTRY IN POLICY ADVISORY COUNCIL Union Environment Minister Mr. Jairam Ramesh said he would set up an advisory council with participation of industry to look into policy issues regarding environment clearances. The council, to meet once in three months, will examine suggestions on changes required in policy for faster environment and forest clearance. He also endorsed the view that all projects related to natural resource extraction should be put up for competitive bidding only after getting environmental and forest clearances. Courtesy: TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute) Newswire, 16-31 January 2011 , P14. MoEF ASKS STATES TO ACT AGAINST CRZ VIOLATORS MoEF has asked the state governments -and UTs to identify violations of the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification of 1991 within four months and initiate action against violators. Pointing out that scams such as Adarsh would not be condonec~ the ministry said any laxity on part of the state governments in identifying the violators wi ll not be acceptable since technologies such as satellite imagery and information technology were available to detect violations of CRZ norms and also of Coastal Management Plans approved under them. These violations were punishable under the Environment (protection) Act of 1986. The ministry also directed them to upload relevant details of the identified violations, including action taken on the violations on their respective website, every fortnight. Courtesy: TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute) Newswire, 16-31 January 2011, P14. BIG COS TO BE ASKED TO HAVE ENVIRONMENT POLICY All major companies and project developers will be asked to have a corporate environmental policy. The Environment Ministry aims to "promote environmental con– sciousness and secure compli– ance", by this measure. The ministry is suggesting a system of self-regulation to ensure that projects and companies do not violate environmental laws and regulations. The intent of the corporate environmental policy would be to "project" the project stakeholders in a manner akin to the protection afforded to company stake- holders through financial systems 'and audit mechanisms. By integrating environmental concerns, it is hoped that the number of violations will be substantially reduced. A senior ministry official said , "Unlike corporate social responsibility, environmental responsibility is backed by law. The government can take action." All central undertakings, thermal power public sector coal-based plants with generation capacities of 500MVV, integrated steel plant projects with a capacity of 1 million tonnes per annum and more, and cement plants with a capacity of 3 million tonnes or more per annum, and petroleum refining industries will be required to put in place a cor– porate environmental responsibility policy. This will be a requirement for consideration of clearance of projects. For all other projects, the respective expert appraisal panels and the forest advisory committee will decide depending on the sector, location and size of projects if such a policy is mandatory. The ministry is of the view that by integrating environmental concerns into the mainstream of corporate policies would be beneficial for companies . The policy could well operate as an early warning system, ensuring that projects are not held up on account of violations of conditions of environmental arid forest clearances. In the recent past, several companies, found to be in violation of environmental laws, have argued that the stoppage of their projects has resulted in financial loss. The ministry is of the view that a corporate environmental policy could help ensure that these laws are not violated to begin with. Courtesy: The Economic Times, New Delhi, ffh May 2011 DON'T BLOCK NEW MINES, FOCUS ON 'MITIGATION MEASURES': Plan panel to MoEF The system of Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index (CEPI) devised by the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) could adversely affect the overall 30 t