Thermal power plants are granted Environmental Clearance
("EC") as per the capacities mentioned in the Schedule to
the Environment Impact Assessment ("EIA") Notification,
2006. The EC is granted based on a specific coal source and any
change in fuel source mandates seeking an amendment in EC. However,
the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
("MoEF&CC") through a recent office memorandum
("OM") dated 11.11.2020 has done away with the
requirement of seeking an amendment in EC when there is a change in
source of coal by thermal power plants.
The present process of seeking an amendment in EC due to a
change in coal source involves certain stages and would
approximately take a couple of months if not more. As per the OM,
in order to simplify the procedure for change in coal source and
encourage thermal power plants to use domestic coal, the
MoEF&CC has decided to permit all the thermal power plants
(including captive power plants) having EC to change the