Government gives pellet plants one more year to get environment clearances

NEW DELHI: Pellet plants, which are operating without green nod, have been given one more year's time by the Centre to obtain environment clearances.

In September last year, the government, following a court order, had allowed standalone pellet plants, that did not have environment clearances (ECs), to operate on a condition that they will obtain ECs by September 2015.

In a circular, the Environment Ministry said it has "decided to extend the time limit to a further period of one year with effect from September 2015" as some units are still under the process of submitting EIA and EMP reports.

"Several pellet plants have obtained 'Terms of Reference' and applied for EC. However, some units are still under the process of submission of final Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) and Environment Management Plan (EMP) report to the Ministry.

"Therefore, the grant of final ECs to such plants is still under various stages of completion within the Ministry," it added.

Pellets are value-added products of leftover material or low grade iron ore and are used in steel-making. In recent times, they have emerged as a major product for iron and steel industry due to scarcity of ore in some regions.

India's pellet production capacity is around 60 million tonnes, of which less then two per cent is exported.