New Year heralds new beginnings at Ramesh?s ministry

From being a ?No-Go minister?, Jairam Ramesh is wearing out the welcome mat at his Paryavaran Bhawan office as he met with at least three top industry honchos whose projects had been stalled by his environment ministry. After Anil Agarwal of Vedanta and GW Sung, managing director of Posco India, it was Hindustan Construction Company chief Ajit Gulabchand’s turn to press flesh with Ramesh on Monday.

Ramesh’s about-turn with regard to industry continues to puzzle three weeks into the new year and in the week following a Cabinet rejig. His new year began with a visit from Vedanta chief Anil Agarwal, whose request for a meeting had been pending for over six months, during which time, Agarwal’s bauxite mining project in the Niyamgiri hills in Orissa had been nixed by the ministry.

Posco?s MD met with Ramesh the following week, sources say, to ?discuss some issues? with the minister and give a presentation on the company’s proposed $12-billion steel plant in Orissa.

Gulabchand’s meeting with Ramesh comes in the backdrop of the company’s problems with the ministry with regard to its township at Lavasa.

Ministry officials said that the meeting was a mere courtesy call but that ?we heard them patiently and have promised to look into the matter.?

?We are trying to find a negotiated solution and a compromise,? Ramesh said Monday after he met Gulabchand in the morning. Moreover, he again met the Lavasa officials in the evening. ?We are trying to work out an amicable solution,? said an HCC official.

So, is there a new rapprochement between the minister and industry? It seems so, with Ramesh setting up an advisory council along with industry to look up policy issues regarding environmental clearances for projects.

?There is no question of diluting these laws, no question of abandoning these laws, but within the framework of these laws, we can be more accommodative of the concerns of the industry,? Ramesh said at an event where industry had expressed its concerns to the minister.

On its own, the meetings may not amount to much, but the new year seems to be as good a time as any for Ramesh to change gear, much to the relief of his ministerial colleagues.