The Union government has given environment clearance for the Rs 5,800 crore North Chennai Thermal Power project by treating it as a special case, said Minister for Environment and Forests Jayanthi Natarajan on Saturday.
Her statement comes in the wake of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa writing a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last week over the delay in getting the clearance.
Speaking to reporters after visiting the Animal Quarantine Centre in Velachery, the minister said, “As soon as we came to know about it, we gave the permission in one day. There were some technical issues regarding the environment clearance but we treated it as a special case.” The clearance was given on November 27, she added.
One unit of the 2 x 600 MW of North Chennai Power Station is expected to generate power by this month and the other unit is expected to generate power by March or June.