Refusing to lift a ban on mining in certain dense forests, the environment ministry has told a panel of ministers that it would notify these areas but was ready to consider request for relaxation of norms by the coal ministry for extension of projects on a case-by-case basis.

Sources said environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan informed group of ministers (GoM) constituted in February this year at the behest of prime minister Manmohan Singh to look into the issues relating to coal projects that she could not "relax" forest rules to allow mining in "some thick forests".

She told the GoM headed by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee that "some areas" where mining will not be done would be identified by the ministry and they "will be notified".

Natarajan's demand was agreed to by GoM, after Mukherjee and home minister P Chidambaram endorsed the view, the sources said.

When coal minister Sreeprakash Jaiswal argued for relaxation of norms for extension of the coal mining projects which were already on, Natarajan is understood to have informed him that she will consider them "case-by-case".

She, however, informed the meeting that the ministry could not give a "complete relaxation", the sources said.

The GoM is yet to evolve consensus over classification of coal mining areas into 'go' and 'no-go' zones.

While the environment ministry had put 203 coal blocks in 'no-go' mining areas, the coal ministry argued that potential coal production to the tune of 660 MT was affected due to the classification, amid ever widening demand-supply gap for the fuel.