Steel Authority of India (SAIL) received conditional forest clearance from environment ministry for mining iron ore from Chiria mines in Jharkhand.
SAIL had sought diversion of 595 hectares, about a fourth of Chiria mines, to carrying out mining of iron ore for 20 years. The environment ministry stipulated some 13 specific conditions for granting the approval. Among other conditions, the ministry has stipulated that only mining and primary and secondary crushing would take place in the forest areas, while other activities such as processing and beneficiation should be done 15 km away in non-forest land.