Cement, Energy and Environment

people, we once again marginalized them. We believed forests had to be protected from the people who lived here. Today the callous implementation of the Forest Conservation Act, which does not allow (rightly in many cases) the diversion of forestland for non-forest purposes, has become the single biggest reason for anger and violence in the region. Conservation of the tiger happens in their lands, on their backs, with little benefit to them. This is what needs to change. And there are opportunities. Some years ago, the Supreme Court passed an important order regarding the sharing of the mineral wealth with its people. Today there is the issue of protecting these forests for national and global imperatives - from water to climate security. Can we use these to build new futures? Can we change the rich land-poor people cartography of India? This is what our future environmentalism must be about. Courtesy: The Times of India, June 4, 2010. P13. THE RACE FOR MINERALS TO COPE UP WITH GROWTH As the economy shifts gears in its race to high growth, one problem that could hold it back is the shortage of raw materials such as coking coal and iron ore. Given India 's rich deposits one would have expected no hassle but, increasingly, tapping those minerals is going to become a headache as they are concentrated in the eastern region, now in the midst of violent unrest. At the core is the growing concern about the ecological impact of mineral resource exploitation; the trouble that Vedanta Resources is facing in getting clearances for its bauxite mining in the Niyamgiri hills of Orissa serves to underline the glitches that companies may have to face. But even if the environment was to become more amenable to mining for coal and iron ore in the region, a far more intractable issue stands in the way - namely, the virtual monopoly of Coal India over supplies of the fossil fuel that has been mitigated only by the grant of a few captive mining licences. The country is paying a pretty heavy price for the political patronage of the inefficient mining conglomerate, with its inflated workforce, bloated wage bills and falling productivity in several units. The CIL chairman has conceded that 33 out of the 78 projects undertaken in the current Plan period have become unviable; to turn them around, he added, an additional revenue generation of Rs. 5, 000 crore would be needed. Against this backdrop the decision of steel major JSW Steel Ltd. to team up with SAIL and others for joint acquisition of Australian coking coal assets makes eminent sense. Not only is the coal far superior but sourcing global supplies would enable steel majors to get around the domestic environmental };;> The economy needs minerals in substantial quantities for the next growth phase and uset'S will shun local monopoly suppliers and get them elsewhere in the world. concerns and dent the state– owned GIL's hold on the precious raw material. This will not be the first foray Down Under; for Indian companies, Australia is becoming the stalking ground for its high quality coal. But private firms are not only ones scouring the world for cheap and superior coal. The state-owned NDMC, the third largest m1n1ng company, has got into the spirit of things , journeying to Russia for coal assets in Yakutia, Siberia. The lessons should not be lost on state owned mining monopolies and all those who bestow patronage on it in State capitals and New Delhi. The economy needs minerals in substantial quantities for the next phase of growth and the users will get such inputs from wherever possible, including Yakutia, one of the coldest places on earth. So they better shape up. Courtesy: The Hindu Business Line, August 13, 2010, PB. GoM NOD FOR COMPENSATION OF MINING DISPLACED SOON New Delhi: A group of ministers (GaM) is expected to soon clear a proposal stipulating companies to share 26 per cent of profits from their mining projects with the displaced people, a mines ministry official said on 12.8.201 0. The GaM is likely to meet this week to discuss the compensation scheme as laid out in the mining bill and is expected to clear the proposal, the official said. "We are working on it. Lets see how can we take it forward. We want to get the new mining bill placed in the current session of Parliament," said the official, who did not want to be identified. Meanwhile, Mines Minister B K Handique told reporters here, "The government is proposing to give 26% share in profit (from mining) and 1% symbolic share to those who lose their land for mining projects." Courtesy: The Economic Times, August 13, 2008, P11 . 68