Chiria mines in Jharkhand are the latest to get conditional forest clearance from Jairam Ramesh. The environment ministry has given conditional forest clearance to SAIL for mining iron ore at the Chiria reserves in Jharkhand for a period of 20 years and meet the raw material requirement for its existing and expansion projects. The ministry has put 13 new conditions while mining is allowed in one of the richest source of iron ore in Asia. The permission has come despite the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) recommendation against clearance for mining activity that falls in an elephant corridor.