The Pioneer, Nov 8, 2010
PNS, Bhubaneswar
The State Government is contemplating to challenge in the Supreme Court the denial of permission to the Vedanta Alumium Limited (VAL) by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) for bauxite mining at the Niyamgiri hill in Kalahandi district.
According to sources, the Government, instead of going to the SC as a direct applicant, would challenge the decision through the State-owned Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC). The State Government has already obtained the State Advocate General’s legal advice in this regards, the sources informed.
The Government has opted to follow the indirect route to approach the SC apparently to ward off the criticism by the opposition Congress and the BJP that allege that the Naveen Patnaik Government was desperate for some obvious reason to facilitate mining of bauxite by VAL at Niyamgiri.
In 2005, the VAL had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the State Government to set 1-million-tonne refinery complex at Lanjigarh in Kalahandi district with an investment of Rs 4,500 crore.
In the MoU, the State Government had committed to supply 150 million tonne (mt) of bauxite for the refinery. For this, the State had identified the Niyamgiri mine as the initial source of the material’s supply to the extent of 78 MT.
On October 24 last, Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh had announced cancellation of the permission for exploitation of bauxite from Niyamgiri on a joint venture by the OMC and Sterlite Industries India Ltd. Sterlite is a wholly owned subsidiary of Vedanta Resources Plc, a London-listed company, which also owns Vedanta Alumina Ltd, operator of the Lanjigarh alumina refinery.
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