Vedanta denies regulatory violations

Reacting to the decision of the Union ministry of environment and forest (MoEF) on rejection of the Stage-II clearance of the proposed bauxite mining project of Vedanta Aluminium Limited (VAL), Vedanta Resources, the parent company of VAL, has denied any regulatory violations at its alumina refinery project at Lanjigarh in Kalahandi district.

The company has clarified that it is not in possession of Niyamgiri mines and no mining activity has been or will be undertaken till all approvals are in place.

Vedanta, which is running the alumina refinery plant at Lanjigarh with outsourced bausite, has so far invested Rs 6,000 crore on this project.

Around 10,000 people are employed at the Lanjigarh alumina refinery plant. Vedanta's overall investment on aluminium projects in the state (as on March 31, 2010) stands at $5.4 billion (Rs 25,380 crore).

In view of the ongoing delay in approval for mining bauxite at Niyamgiri hills, the company stated that the Orissa government is actively considering allocation of alternate source of bauxite to Vedanta’s alumina refinery, from the state. Vedanta, on its part, has stated that it remains committed to work with the local communities of Lanjigarh to ensure sustainable development of the region.

Vedanta had signed an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the state government in October 2004 for setting up an integrated alumina and aluminium complex along with the associated captive power plant in the state.

This MoU also included supplying 150 million tonnes of bauxite for the Vedanta’s alumina refinery at Lanjigarh.

Towards this end, the Orissa government had identified Niyamgiri hills as the initial source of bauxite supply to the extent of 78 million tonnes.

“The Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC), who holds the lease of the Niyamgiri mines, applied for all approvals to commence mining from Niyamgiri. During the approval process, the mining project was extensively reviewed by the Supreme Court of India, including specific reviews by the expert committee appointed by the MoEF. The Supreme Court of India passed a favourablejudgment to the project and granted the mining approval in August 2008”, the company said in a statement.