'Growth can be green'

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will call a meeting of the ministers of environment and forests, coal, mining, roads and other infrastructure ministries to evolve a unified approach towards balancing environmental concerns with requirements for growth.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will call a meeting of the ministers of environment and forests, coal, mining, roads and other infrastructure ministries to evolve a unified approach towards balancing environmental concerns with requirements for growth.

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"While we are sensitive to issues relating to environment, we can't return to situation similar to license-permit raj," the PM said during the interaction with editors.

Environment clearances have come in way of several projects in power, roads, mining and aviation, leading to complaints to the Prime Minister. In the most recent controversy, the proposal for a new airport in Mumbai is hanging in balance, as environment clearances have not come by.

The PM had promised to intervene to resolve the stalemate. "We will have to find environment friendly ways of generating more wealth," the PM said.

Singh recalled the collapse of the Wall Street responding to a suggestion for more liberalization.

"We have to have our own models of liberalisation. We can't follow the Wall Street model or City of London model blindly," the PM said, defending his government's calibrated approach towards opening up various sectors of the economy.