News – CBI: Case filed against Hindalco, case of corruption in environmental clearance for coal mining
The CBI has registered a case against Aditya Birla Group's Hindalco, the country's leading aluminium producer, for alleged corruption in obtaining environmental clearance for coal mining between 2011 and 2013. Officials said the agency has also named T Chandini, then director in the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, for favouring the company as member secretary of the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) in granting permission for mining in Talabira-1 mine in the highly polluted area of Odisha's Jharsuguda in violation of the ministry's guidelines. The central investigating agency has registered an FIR after a preliminary investigation of about eight years. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had started a preliminary investigation in 2016 following allegations that Aditya Birla Management Corporation Private Limited (ABMCPL) had allegedly paid huge bribes to ministry officials between 2011 and 2013 to obtain mandatory environmental clearance for coal mining from Talabira. The findings of the probe revealed that the ministry had in 2006 made it mandatory for a company to seek environmental clearance for all new projects, expansion of existing products and any change in the product mix at an existing manufacturing unit. Projects that required prior environmental clearance had to go through the EAC, which comprised experts from various disciplines. The regulatory authority granted the clearance based on the EAC's recommendation. Hindalco received its first environmental clearance in 2001 for mining 0.4 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of coal from the Talabira-1 mine. Another clearance was granted in January 2009 for its expansion, increasing mining from 0.4 MTPA to 1.5 MTPA. About a month after the second clearance, the company sought to double its capacity to 3 MTPA, which was to be considered by the EAC.
The FIR said it has come to light that the company produced more coal than permitted by the ministry in alleged violation of approvals granted in 2001 and 2009. The company allegedly mined 3.04 MTPA of excess coal from 2004-05 to 2007-08 and 2008-09.
The FIR alleged that this fact came to light during the process of consideration by the EAC, of which director T Chandini was the member secretary. The CBI alleged that the Odisha State Pollution Control Board and the Central Pollution Control Board confirmed during the investigation that the Talabira mine was in a highly polluted area of Jharsuguda.
As per the ministry's rules, in-pipeline projects in highly polluted areas or projects applied after January 13, 2010, were to be returned to the project proponent by the member secretaries with the approval of the advisor.
Investigation revealed that Chandni did not back the project despite being fully aware that the company was mining additional coal in violation of the previous environmental clearance, as prescribed in the ministry's circular.
“Rather, he acted contrary to the proposal of HIL (Hindalco) which is an abuse of his official position in favour of HIL,” the CBI FIR alleged.
The agency alleged that Chandini had abused her official position by informing Hindalco that its proposal for granting environmental clearance would be considered in the next meeting of the EAC scheduled on February 25 and 26, 2010.
He reportedly ensured that the approval was given in a hurry, considering the fact that Hindalco was already violating the clearance granted by the ministry, as it was already mining excess coal from the Talabira-1 coal mine.
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