By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, May 11, 2016 : The Central government on Wednesday blamed the State governments for the delay of mining projects saying that forest and environment clearances stems from the delay in filing of application by States.

“The State governments are not providing the data and facts in a proper manner and at an appropriate time. Despite the streamlining of the process of change in land use pattern, State governments are unable to take full advantage of it”, Inspector general of union forest and Environment ministry Deepak Kumar Sinha said here at a workshop”.

“We have simplified the process. We are trying to bring down the number of days taken in sanctioning the cases. But in most of the cases, the delay is at the state level because we are not receiving the proposal in the proper format. If it is received, it is not complete in all respect. That is the cause of the delay,” Sinha added.

The State government, however, has dismissed the charge saying even proposals sent three years back are yet to receive the clearances from the Union ministry.

“We generally send our proposals in a proper manner. The ministry should communicate to us if any proposal is lacking any information sought by them. We are always striving to submit the proposals in the prescribed format,” Odisha mines minister Prrafulla Mallick.
The workshop laid emphasis on protection of environment along with the socio-economic development of the mining-affected areas. The workshop also discussed various problems faced by the lease holders.

“We need to understand what is the right solution which can address the concerns of the community, the legislation and the concerns of the industry. We also need to see how the cost of the industry is being addressed. Emphasis is being laid on ease of doing business and th same amount of stress should be put on the cost of business because if the industry is not competitive, investors will not come,” said MD of Tata Steel TV Narendran.