The Expert Appraisal Committee of the Union Ministry of Forests and Environment has agreed in principle to give environmental clearance to two coal blocks allotted to Rajasthan Vidyut Utpadan Nigam in Chhattisgarh. The forest clearance for the two blocks was provided in the first phase in July this year. The State has been allotted Parsa East and Kente Basan coal blocks in Chhattisgarh mainly for the upcoming super-critical power plants. The combined storage capacity of these blocks is estimated to be about 450 million tonnes. According to State Energy Minister Jitendra Singh here, the coal supply from the two blocks would start in the next 10 to 12 months for being utilised at the power projects in the State. The then Union Forest and Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh had made an announcement about initial clearance for coal blocks during his visit here three months ago. The Expert Appraisal Committee met at Nagpur in Maharashtra earlier this week to consider clearance for coal blocks. Energy Secretary Naresh Pal Gangwar and Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Chairman and Managing Director P. N. Singhal and Director (Technical) N. M. Mathur represented Rajasthan at the meeting. Mr. Singh said two units of 600 MW each at Kalisindh and two units of 250 MW each at Chhabra were at present under construction in the State. Besides, the construction of four super-critical thermal units of 660 MW each is to be taken up at Suratgarh and Chhabra. The coal arrangements for all these units would be made from the two blocks in Chhattisgarh.