Environment and Forests Minister Prakash Javadekar was not expected to get a cabinet berth in the second cabinet expansion by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday. Yet, he is the only one to have been rewarded for his work in speeding up project clearances for ease of doing business.
Clearly, Javadekar has delivered on the Modi government's promise to the corporate sector for its overwhelming support to his government.
It is not just the Adani Group which has benefited (including the waiver of a Rs 200 crore fine as recommended by an expert panel headed by Sunita Narain of Centre for Science and Environment for damages in the Mundra coastal region due to Adani's port project) from the dilution of norms for making industries responsible for the cleanup and rehabilitation of affected people and damaged areas.
For the record, the ministry proudly boasts on its website that in the last two years 2,000 projects have been "unlocked" to clear investments of Rs 10 lakh crore that had the potential to create 10 lakh jobs.