Vedanta Aluminium Halts Plant Expansion in Orissa

In response to the Indian Government’s actions Vedanta Aluminium has stopped the expansion of its alumina refinery at Lanjigarh in Orissa.

The government issued a notification making it mandatory for companies to seek environmental clearance for any major change in processes on August 19 this year.

The company is a subsidiary of London based Vedanta Resources and is controlled by Anil Agarwal. The fact was that no prior approval for expansion was needed according to the rules in place before the changes were announced on August 19. The CEO of Vedanta Aluminium Mukesh Kumar said that he doubted the intention behind the recent announcements made by the government.

Especially when the champion of tribal rights and the main leader in the fight against Vedanta’s proposal to mining Bauxite in Niyamgiri is Bhakta Charan Das. The Congress Party MP from Kalahandi had said 14 years ago that the government should take a keen interest in setting up a large alumina plant to exploit the bauxite deposits in Niyamgirir and Sijimalli.

Operations at the existing one million tonne refinery owned by Vedanta Aluminium are continuing. Bauxite is being purchased from outside the state and the unit is currently running at 90% capacity.