Chhattisgarh government alleges Bharat Aluminium encroachment

The Chhattisgarh government today accused the London-listed Vedanta-controlled Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (Balco) of construction of its proposed 1200Mw power plant in Korba on the government land allegedly encroached upon by the company.

Chhattisgarh Minister for Revenue Amar Agrawal told the Legislative Assembly that the company had encroached on 1036.52 acres of government land in Korba where it had a aluminium complex.

The Chief Executive Officer of Balco, Pramod Suri told Business Standard over telephone that the company had not encroached any land and the construction of power plant was going on in the area under the legal possession of the company.

Leader of Opposition Ravindra Choubey had raised the issue and sought information about land allegedly encroached upon by Balco in Korba district, asking whether construction on the encroached land has started.

“The state government had registered 10 cases against the company in Korba between June 17, 2005, and June 28, 2005, under relevant sections of the land revenue code,” Agrawal said in his written reply to Choubey.

The Minister said Balco had started building chimneys and other structures for its proposed 1200Mw thermal power plant on 19.46 acres of the encroached land.

Balco, a public sector undertaking, was disinvested during the of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime in February 2001 in which the London-listed Vedanta Plc acquired a majority stake.