The environment secretary came up with a dubious procedure last year that allowed their steel projects to be considered for environmental clearance after completion, a clear violation of the letter and spirit of the law on impact assessment.
When most Indians were grappling with the consequences of the first wave of COVID-19 last year, the environment ministry quietly put in place a legally dubious procedure to grant clearances to two mega steel plants that had violated the environment clearance law, official documents accessed exclusively by The Morning Context reveal.
One of the steel plants is based in Jharkhand’s Bokaro district and is run by ESL Steel Ltd, a Vedanta group company; the other is located in Odisha’s Jajpur district and is operated by Tata Steel Ltd, a Tata group venture. Spread over 374 hectares, the Rs 19,374 crore …
Akshay is an investigative reporter and former writer at The Morning Context. Based in Delhi, he writes about the environment, public policy and economy from the lens of the pulls and pressures of an ambitious democracy. Akshay uses the right to information extensively for reporting stories of vital public interest. Over the past decade and more, he has worked for HuffPost India, Frontline, The Economic Times, Down To Earth and DNA.
akshay@mailtmc.com