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Jayanthi Natarajan
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New Delhi, Oct. 9 (PTI): Environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan has written to Manmohan Singh opposing any move to bypass green clearances for mega projects approved by a brainchild of finance minister P. Chidambaram, NDTV reported tonight.
The National Investment Board (NIB), to be headed by the Prime Minister, is envisaged as the final body for clearing big proposals, after which no ministry will have the power to raise objections.
According to the channel, Natarajan has in her letter to Singh said the manner in which changes have been sought in granting project approvals is disturbing, and wondered why the NIB should step in when decisions like green clearances have to be given by her ministry.
Natarajan said the NIB had no constitutional authority and the proposal would decimate the role of her ministry, the channel reported. Her opposition came even as a cabinet note on the NIB was circulated among ministries.
Chidambaram had recently proposed the board to speed up clearance to big-ticket projects after concerns over delays in implementation.
The industry, and even some central ministries, have complained that environmental laws and clearances have become an impediment to growth.
Several large projects with investments of Rs 1.5 lakh crore are stuck because of delays in clearances. Chidambaram told a Planning Commission meeting last month that the NIB’s authority should extend to projects where the investment is above a certain threshold.
In June, the Prime Minister had cleared an investment tracking system to ensure speedy implementation of projects worth over Rs 1,000 crore.
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