Vedanta cleared of violation of Govt guidelines at Niyamgiri

BHUBANESWAR: In a reprieve to the much hyped Vedanta Alumina, part of the Anil Agarwal-promoted Vedanta Resources Plc, the Kalahandi district collector in its report to the state government said that the Company has not violated any government guidelines at Niyamgiri bauxite deposit.

Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh last week said a probe had found illegal construction work by the Company violating legal provisions. Following the minister’s statement and subsequent clarification sought by the ministry of environment and forest, the state steel and mines Secretary Ashok Mohadeo Rao Dalwai had last week asked the district authorities of Kalahandi to probe the alleged violations of Vedanta after the central government sought explanation from the state.

However, the investigating team comprising of officials from forest, revenue and mining departments said in its report that Vedanta had carried out no illegal construction activities at its mining project.

The construction had began in the non-forest area which the government has already handed over to the firm, the district officials said in the report submitted to the state government Monday “It is not unlawful. There was no construction by the firm either found in the mining lease area or outside of the plant area”, sources here said.
The environment ministry had sought an explanation from the state government as to why the l bauxite mining project by Vedanta had been allowed to start work in violation of the ministry guidelines.

The union minister also had maintained that his ministry would send an inspection team to verify allegations of violation of terms.

VAL, which has already set up its 4,500-crore refinery project at Lanjigarh now faces a daunting task for its survival due to undue delay in access to bauxite. The Company is yet to get the state government’s permission to mining at Niyamgiri hills near the project site despite complying to directions given by the Supreme Court.

VAL is at present sourcing bauxite – the main raw material for production of alumina - from Gujarat and its BALCO project in Chhatisgarh, making it uncompetitive due to hefty market price and transportation cost it is coughing up.

The VAL had entered into a joint-venture with the state-owned Orissa Mining Corporation for exploitation of bauxite from Niyamgiri hills to ensure regular supply of bauxite to its refinery project at an ‘affordable price’.

However, a section of locals and some environmentalists objected to it on the ground that it would jeopardize the local eco-system. They even went to the Supreme Court challenging the state government’s recommendation for bauxite mining lease in favour of VAL.