BJD v/s JAIRAM AT THE CENTRE

An unhappy Patnaik also said that Ramesh, Environment Minister, had given no indication of
Tuesday's decision not to give clearance to the group's proposed $1.7 billion bauxite mining
project in the state when he met him in Delhi on Tuesday. "He (Ramesh) had never mentioned
on Monday this (rejection of clearance to Vedanta's mining project)," Patnaik told. Asked
whether there was any politics behind the Centre's action, Patnaik said, "I certainly hope there is
no politics." Ramesh, on his part, said no politics or prejudice against the Biju Janata Dal-ruled
government was involved in his ministry's decision. "There have been no emotions, no politics
and no prejudice involved in the Vedanta's case. The decision is purely on the basis of the proper
legal approach," which Ramesh said was based on the Saxena panel report, auditor general's
report and recommendations of the FAC. Ramesh said he has no prejudices against the Orissa
government as his ministry has cleared an important irrigation project in the state for
which the in-principle approval was accorded on Monday. "While rejecting this (Vedanta)
project, I have also cleared an important irrigation project in the state in which over 1500
hectares of forest land is involved," the minister said. He also denied that Congress leader
Rahul Gandhi has played a part in his decision. Patnaik said his government would undertake a
'detailed examination' of the Environment and Forest Ministry's refusal to grant environment
clearance to the project. "The state government would undertake a detailed examination of the
Union Environment and Forest ministry's rejection order and would take correct and appropriate
steps on the matter," he said. On the N C Saxena panel finding fault in implementation of forest
rights act, forest conservation act and environment protection act, he said the state government
worked on the directives of the Supreme Court while making progress on the mining project.
"These investments in Orissa were meant to generate jobs for the people and add to the state's
revenue. Therefore, they should be given go ahead," he said, adding that tribal dominated
backward district like Kalahandi had never received such a huge investment in the past. Ramesh
also dismissed reports that rejection was a sort of deal in lieu of clearance to the Korean steel
giant Posco's proposed Rs 54,000-crore (Rs 540-billion) project in the state. The two cannot be
equated as the violations of forest dwellers by the latter at the site were also being investigated,
he said.

The government's position is shaped heavily by the report of a committee set up by the Ministry
of Environment & Forests to study whether Vedanta had complied with environmental laws and
had therefore passed the test that would give it a "Stage 2" or final clearance from the
government. Headed by NC Saxena, the committee submitted a damning report last week in
which it suggested that the company had broken the law for its mining project as well as its
Refinery plant at Lanjigarh. The Committee suggested that the Vedanta operations endanger
nearly 750 square km of forest land. The NC Saxena Committee was critical of the Orissa
government's decision to clear the project; its report stated that government officials colluded
with Vedanta to allow illegal activity including encroaching upon at least 26 hectares of village
forest land within its refinery. From its original plans of refining 1 million tons of bauxite,
Vedanta has, Ramesh says, illegally expanded its operations to handle 6 million tons. Ramesh
has now said the company must explain why its refinery shouldn't be shut down. In 2004, the
Orissa government committed to 150 million tonnes of bauxite for Vedanta's alumina refinery; it
also stated that the initial supply - upto 78 million tones - would come from the Niyamgiri mine.
In the light of Ramesh's emphatic rejection of that, the company claims ,"In view of the ongoing
delay in approval of the Niyamgiri Mining, the Government of Orissa is actively considering
allocation of alternate source of bauxite to Vedanta's alumina refinery, from the state of
Orissa." The Chief Minister of Orissa, Navin Patnaik, expressed his disappointment with the
union government's stand. "I certainly hope this is not politics because this has to do with the
development and the progress of the state. After all, when these big investments come, the state's
revenue goes up, our young people get many jobs, infrastructure is built in very backward areas.
After all, Kalahandi has never received major investment before this alumina plant." In 2007, a
Public Interest Litigation challenged Vedanta's mining project in the Supreme Court.  A year
later, the court cleared the project, but said the government would make the final call "in
accordance with law". 
 
VEDANTA’S REPLY: --- Vedanta has offered in its defense the promise that it plans to mine
only 3.5 square kmeters of the 250-km Niyamgiri Range.  The company also says that there is
considerable local support for the project: 5000 locals helped to build its alumina refinery.  In
Vedanta's estimate, its mine will bring Rs. 1,000 crores to the region every year, and will provide
jobs for 600,000 locals.  

P.R. STRATEGY BY VEDANTA

Charges of environmental damage and human rights violations are forcing Vedanta group to
change. Founder Anil Agarwal has to ensure the changes are more than cosmetic. Controversy is
not new to Agarwal, a 56-year-old businessman from Patna who started his career bringing
together a variety of family businesses nearly 35 years ago. In fact, he thrives on them, having
become known more for running some of the world’s lowest cost producers of various metals
and minerals than for running eco-friendly plants. But with his increasingly globalizing business
now listed on the London Stock Exchange, he is facing more scrutiny outside his homeland
where implementation of environmental standards could be lax. At Vedanta’s head office on 16,
Berkeley Street in London, however, the reaction to all the criticism is that it is primarily a
“perception” problem. As a result, Agarwal and his generals have set out to correct the
perception with a counter public relations strategy. The stakes are getting higher every day.
Agarwal still needs an approval from the environment ministry without which his bauxite project
would be stalled. A multi-billion dollar fund-raising exercise is on the way. Word is out that a
few more investors could pull out of Vedanta, though this remains purely speculative as of now.
But more importantly, bad reputation could come in the way of Agarwal’s dream to make
Vedanta one of the top five mining companies in the world. But the big question that Agarwal
must ask himself is if all this enhanced criticism he is facing is just an image problem or does his
group need soul-searching on the price it pays for chasing ever lower costs of production. Just a
few weeks after Church of England and three other investors sold their stakes in Vedanta,
Agarwal met Niira Radia, the Delhi-based head of Vaishnavi Corporate Communications,
a leading public relations firm that has Tata Group companies and Reliance Industries as
its clients. Agarwal wanted Radia to handle Vedanta’s public relations portfolio.
“Vaishnavi had successfully handled Vedanta’s affairs when the legal case on the mining
project was being held in the Supreme Court. Though Agarwal had not felt the need to
continue with Vaishnavi after he won the case, now he wants them. Now, Agarwal expects the
professional team to take his message across to the outside world.
Another gap that Vedanta is trying to fill is corporate social responsibility (CSR). For long,
CSR was largely neglected in the group. A former senior executive who worked at the
group’s aluminium plant in Korba, Chhattisgarh, says, “In his talks, the chairman came
across as a person who was interested in corporate social responsibility. But one wonders if
others below him cared equally. Otherwise, how do you explain that the least performing
executives were shunted to CSR positions?”

Agarwal sought to set it right and in 2005, created a group head post for CSR. He roped in
Ruby Thapar from the Aditya Birla group for the post. “In the last five years, we have set
up a system that is process-driven and not people-driven. We have come out with a
standard operating manual and a CSR tool kit, which is an ‘internal Bible’,” says Thapar,
who claims that Vedanta now has “one of the largest CSR teams in the country with 60 full
time professionals.” Interestingly, the CSR activities at high-priority Orissa are still
handled by the head of human resources. For the past two years, the CEOs are graded for
their performance on the CSR front and last year, Agarwal started conducting a
fortnightly video conference from his London office to check on progress on various CSR
initiatives of the Group. 

“Dialogue with the community, including discussion of the full impact of the project and
sharing of assessment studies, are a few of the basic practices of a business model based on
sustainable development,” says Julia Nelson of Business for Social Responsibility, a US-
based consultancy firm that advises companies, on CSR. International NGOs claim lack of
transparency has been one of the fundamental drawbacks of Vedanta Resources’ efforts to
find unified local support.

A top Orissa bureaucrat says such initiatives will help Vedanta gain credibility and also
change the working culture at the group. “They are too aggressive and this makes them cut
corners and commit mistakes. For instance, for their smelter at Jharsguda (in Orissa), they
expanded the capacity even before getting the necessary approvals from the government.”

Faced with community opposition, Sterlite has set up a foundation to address local needs and
sited seven of its 18 centers in Tuticorin, Sterlite Copper’s hometown . "

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT BY VEDANTA

There is a conspiracy theory making rounds in the southern seaside town of Tuticorin, where
metals company Sterlite Industries set up its copper smelter 13 years ago, after being driven out
of Ratnagiri, Maharashtra, on environmental grounds. Some people claim that Sterlite lets out
gallons of effluents into the sea, but not directly. They say it has linked up its drainage pipes to
those of another well-known company in the area, which eventually pours the effluents into the
sea. Forbes India asked Vedanta Resources plc, the holding company of London-based
billionaire Anil Agarwal’s $6 billion plus group that includes Sterlite, whether there is any truth
in the prattle, but got no reply. The Tuticorin plant, which began operations against fierce
opposition from local environmentalists, has never been able to fully erase such doubts. It is a
similar problem that surrounds Vedanta’s project in the middle of tribal territory in Orissa to
mine for bauxite, the raw material for aluminium. It is part of Agarwal’s most ambitious plan for
an integrated aluminium plant. Not everyone is convinced it is a good plan. High profile
investors including the Pension Fund of Norway, and the Church of England, sold their
shareholding in Vedanta citing environmental concerns and human right violations at the
upcoming plant. Groups such as Survival International, Amnesty and ActionAid, have pounded
the company with similar allegations.According to activists, the projects threaten densely
forested areas that are home to tiger, Indian bison, bear, and elephant. The affected human
population includes impoverished tribal communities, some of whom charge that Vedanta’s
projects are illegal, and that the state and central governments are colluding with the company to
circumvent environmental protections.  
 

Other example of environmental degradation by Vedanta----- 1)A tribal temple on

Shervaroyan Peak in the hills of Yercaud in Southern India recently developed several large
cracks. Built several centuries ago, the temple has withstood colonization and independence. But
of late, a new mine threatens to destroy this historic site. Vedanta, a fast-growing British
company, owns a subsidiary – Madras Aluminium Company Limited (MALCO) – that has been
strip mining this and nearby peaks for bauxite, the ore that yields aluminium used in products
from throwaway soda cans to aircraft bodies. Community activists charge that MALCO is a
heavy weight player in the local economy and politics, and a significant contributor to
environmental degradation. “There’s a limit to exploitation. Nothing is sacred any more,” says
the president of the local youth federation. “Their only botheration is to excavate more and more.
Maintaining ecology is not at all an issue.” On the banks of the huge reservoir, MALCO operates
a smelter and a refinery complex where locally mined bauxite is converted into aluminium.

2) Social welfare programs have done little to blunt a long history of opposition to Vedanta or to
counter evidence that it has polluted the environment, poisoned locals, and colluded with
officials to bypass environmental protections. In less than 8 years, 139 people have been injured
and 13 killed by accidents or pollution from the Tuticorin smelter complex, according to
documented reports and testimony from workers. Complaints about the company began
mounting in the mid-1990s, when protesters in Ratnagiri in the western state of Maharashtra
cited environmental concerns to block Sterlite from building a smelter and to force the state to
revoke the company’s license. Shortly after, a Tamil Nadu government invitation to Sterlite to
build a plant in Tuticorin sparked massive protests by residents -- particularly fisherfolk.  
 
But the Tamil Nadu project had the blessing of Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa Jayaram, who laid
the foundation stone for the complex. Less than four months after applying to build the smelter,
Tamilnadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) granted conditional licenses to construct a 140,000
ton-a-year copper smelter and associated plants. 
 
That license stipulated that the unit be at least 25 kilometres from the Gulf of Mannar Marine
National Park in order to protect the region’s ecology – its famed coral islands and exotic species
such as dugongs, sea turtles, and pearl oysters -- from sulphur dioxide, arsenic and lead
emissions.  ABOUT ANIL AGARWAL
In a country that celebrates its businessmen and politicians that look like film stars, Anil Agarwal
has not been able to make an impression. With his rustic manners that a decade of life in London
has not erased, Agarwal doesn’t come across as a sophisticated conversationalist. Group insiders
say the perception problem has a lot to do with the stereotyping of Agarwal. “Anil Agarwal is a
misunderstood person. His only fault is lack of articulation,” says a senior official. But nobody
can question the enormity of his success. Over 35 years, Agarwal’s business empire has grown
from less than half a million dollars to $6.5 billion. Born in eastern India, he started out as a
scrap metal merchant in Mumbai, before moving to London 30 years ago. Agarwal’s fortunes
soared as the small Indian company he set up in 1988 rode the telecom boom, supplying copper
cables to telecom companies in India. In the dirt and grime of the mining business, he fought
hard and bought old plants to turn them into profitable units. He lobbied with ministers and
bureaucrats across four continents to turn hostile situations favourable. When he shifted base
from India to the high-brow circles of London, hardly anyone gave a chance to this Marwari
businessman from Bihar speaking halting English. He soon proved his critics wrong achieving
the most rapid growth of his career after the shift. The most incredible thing about Agarwal is
that he prospers in conditions where others wither. Wherever a plant or a mine, universally
declared unviable, came up for a sale at throwaway price, Agarwal would be there to buy. And
months later, the plant would begin to thrive in his hands leaving industry peers incredulous.
There is no better example for his tenacity than the Orissa project, where he has already managed
to put up the refinery, though the mining project is mired in controversies. This is the location
where for 25 years, Indian and international behemoths have tried to set up metal production
operations but failed due to local protests and lack of clearances. But it is also characteristic of
him to get sucked into environmental debates, protests and controversies. These successes and
controversies have divided Vedanta observers into two different camps. One set admires
Agarwal for his stupendous success against all odds and for creating wealth for his shareholders.
“I have known him for almost two decades and worked with Vedanta officials. Agarwal has been
passionate about growth and fast growth. India is a difficult place to make money for a mining
company. I defy anyone to show that he is not doing a great job developing his group,” says
Michael Rawlinson at the London-based investment bank Liberum Capital, which last month
came out with statement terming criticism for Vedanta’s mining project in Orissa “unfair,
regrettable.” The second camp hates him with equal vigour. “Vedanta has not shown any
intention to abide by rules. And its ability to carry out projects without bending the rules is
suspect. By raising finance in London and operating in India, it is trying to have its way both
ways,” says Jo Woodman of Survival International, the London-based non-governmental
organisation that has been in the forefront of protests against the bauxite mining project.
“Vedanta has got notorious… The Orissa project is the most controversial mining project in the
world,” Woodman says. In 2007, Norway’s pension fund sold its stake in the company for
“environmental and human rights violations.” Sometime later, India’s Supreme Court cleared
Vedanta’s bauxite mining project in Orissa and with supportive administrations at Orissa and
central governments, Agarwal was assured that the last part of his biggest ever project, the
integrated aluminium plant in Orissa, was now in place.In January this year though, things
worsened suddenly when four investors including Church of England and the Joseph Rowntree
Charitable Trust sold their shares in Vedanta. Within two months, the Indian environment
ministry said blamed Vedanta for “violating forests laws in Orissa.” It looked like Agarwal had
begun to lose his magic touch with government dealings.If more investors pull out of Vedanta, it
will put pressure on the environment minister, Jairam Ramesh, on the question of clearance for
the mining project. Ramesh is one of the few politicians in India who hasn’t been charmed by
Agarwal. Without his clearance, Agarwal will hit a roadblock: His plan to spin off his aluminium
business including the Orissa project into a separate listed company will get stalled; Neither will
the project get the $20 billion valuation that he expects. “This is an international conspiracy to
stall Vedanta’s progress. It is common knowledge that the mining project will make Vedanta one
of the lowest cost producers of aluminium and among the top five in the world,” says Vedanta
Aluminium’s CEO Mukesh Kumar, who is heading the Orissa project. It will be a tough task for
Agarwal to convince that the changes he is making are not cosmetic and imply a fundamental
change in culture. International NGOs allege that the public hearings for its controversial
projects are “eyewash”. With Vedanta Resources listed on the London Stock Exchange, Agarwal
might also face more calls to take initiatives that would have credence in an international
audience. This could include “membership of a respected industry responsibility body such as
the International Council on Metals and Mining (ICCM),” says Louis Henderson of Church of
England. Despite his high level connections, Agarwal has fallen afoul of the law in both Britain
and in India where he was accused of collaborating with the infamous stock- 
market scamster Harshad Mehta. Known as “Big Bull" Mehta was notorious for insider trading
and manipulating stock prices.” In 1998 while the Bombay Stock Exchange was performing
poorly and Mehta was promoting Sterlite stock, the company’s shares rose by 41 percent. That
same year, the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) "prohibited [Sterlite] from accessing
the capital market for a period of two years," for insider trading and other offenses. A subsequent
exoneration of Sterlite by the Securities Appellate Tribunal’s left many questions unanswered. 
 

ABOUT VEDANTA

Sterlite Industries India Ltd and Vedanta Alumina Ltd are Vedanta’s two most significant
businesses in India. Vedanta group’s Indian subsidiaries include: 
 
1. Sterlite Industries India Ltd: Copper business. 80 percent holding 
2. MALCO Ltd: Aluminium business. 80 percent holding 
3. Vedanta Alumina Ltd: Alumina business. 94 percent holding between SIIL and Vedanta
Resources plc. 
4. Hindustan Zinc Ltd: Zinc business. 52 percent held by SIIL. 
5. Bharat Aluminium Co. Ltd: Aluminium business. 41 percent held by SIIL 
Vedanta is a vertically- integrated behemoth with an impressive international portfolio
comprising copper, bauxite (aluminium), zinc, lead and gold. It has raised almost $1 billion on
the London Stock Exchange and has started to snap up mines in Zambia and Australia. 
 In India, which remains its production base, the company runs a giant copper smelter in the
coastal town of Tuticorin in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, and aluminium smelters in the
central and east Indian states of Chattisgarh and Orissa. According to the company’s annual
report, it plans to start a massive captive mine in the Niyamagiri hills of Orissa, a smelter in
nearby Lanjigarh, and a refinery also in Orissa. The company’s share price slid by 10% last
week – wiping £300m off its market capitalization – following an Indian government body
ruling against a controversial mining project. Initial concerns about the Orissa mine project
had developed into disquiet about the company’s corporate governance policies and management
of shareholder relations with long-term investors. 

.  
 
 
 
 
 

 
 

 
  
  
In 1995, ignoring the TNPCB’s instructions, Sterlite erected the smelter complex– including
a mothballed smelter scavenged from the U.S.– 16 kilometres from one of the protected
islands. Rather than act on the violation, the pollution board granted the company an
operating license to manufacture up to 40,000 tons of blister copper. 
 
In 1996, local resistance came to a head when fisherfolk used an armada of small boats to
prevent ships carrying Sterlite’s raw material – copper concentrate – from entering the
Tuticorin harbour. But resistance waned after the government conceded to one of the
protesters’ demands: to prohibit disposing the effluents at sea. 
 
Within two years a spate of accidents and gas leaks from the factory spurred the Madras
High Court to commission a report on pollution by Sterlite. NEERI – a national
environmental engineering laboratory – faulted the company for discharging dangerous
levels of pollution into the environment and recommended the company’s closure. Barely
three months later, the same court reversed itself, cleared Sterlite, and recommended its
reopening.
Occupational Injuries and Deaths at
Sterlite.  
 
Sterlite denies that many of the incidents
described below (gathered from community
sources) were caused by the company.  
 
Date– Description of Injury/Fatality 
 
1997– Killed: Explosion at the plant. 2
persons reduced to charred bone; 2 workers
maimed. July 1997– Injured: Toxic gas leak
from Sterlite. 120 people exposed. 45 (42
women and 3 men) hospitalized. Incident
reported by women workers at a neighboring
cut-flowers factory.

(Agarwal told the media: "The incident has

nothing do with our factory and there was no
leakage of any kind of gas from our plant.") 
 
August 1997– Exposed: Workers at nearby
Tamilnadu Electricity Board substation suffer
headache, coughing and choking due to
smoke emanating from Sterlite. 
 
August 1997– Killed: Two contract workers
killed, one injured. 
 
April 1998– Killed: Two employees killed,
four injured. 
 
March 1999– Injured: Sterlite Gas Leak – 9
employees of “All India Radio” hospitalised 
 
September 2000– Injured: Two workers
sustain acid burn injuries. 
 
November 2000– Sterlite pumps toxic
effluents into village pond. Villagers detain
factory employees. 
 
July 2001– Killed: Worker trapped under
Gypsum load. 
 
August 2003– Killed: Lorry cleaner killed
during loading 
 
August 2003– Killed: Lorry cleaner killed
while loading Rock Phosphate 
 
December 2003– Killed: Welder succumbs to
a fall 
 
2003– Killed: Electrician killed. Another
worker injured. 
 
May 2004– Killed: Worker dies after fall
from lorry 
 
September 2004– Killed: Contract worker
run over by crane 
 
Source: Sterlite workers and ex-workers,
2005.
 
Then, weeks after the facility re-opened, nine employees of a neighbouring radio station who
were hospitalized, blamed a gas leak at the factory. 
 
By September 2004, when a Monitoring Committee (SCMC) empowered by the Supreme
Court visited Sterlite, the plant was churning out four times the allowed levels of pollutants,
according to the Vedanta’s Annual Report 2004. 
 
In the face of this record, some environmental and human rights activists are confident that
local resistance will gain strength. “The [anti-Sterlite] campaign is bound to pick up because
of [Agarwal’s] arrogant expansionism,” says T.S.S. Mani of Human Rights Tamilnadu
Initiative, a Chennai-based voluntary organisation.  
 
Other activists remain sceptical. 
“I don’t know how we are going to succeed given the level of [government] collusion,”
Fatima Babu says. “Even now, they are going ahead with illegal expansions and business as
usual.” 
 
That cynicism is fueled by the fact that all the new construction in Tuticorin has occured
without the environmental clearances legally required by both the central and state
governments, 
and that other illegal construction at the Orissa site continues. At the time of the Supreme
Court monitoring committee’s 2004 visit to Tuticorin, Sterlite had nearly completed
construction of a 300,000 ton-per-year copper smelter, a 127,000 ton copper refinery, a
power plant, and several other units. None had government approval. 
 
Nonetheless, barely a day after the committee’s visit, the central government gave post-facto
clearance to the already constructed plants – despite the fact that Sterlite had never gotten the
pollution board’s consent to built them. The board approval came in April 2005 when the
factory was ready for production. According to a July 2005 Supreme Court Committee report
the TNPCB claimed that it consented afterthe Central Ministry ordering it to do so. 
 
Senior TNPCB officials declined to comment. “I’ll get into trouble if I speak to you. Please
don’t ask me anything,” said R. Ramachandran, member secretary (acting) of the board. A
faxed letter seeking clarification on the reasons for TNPCB’s failure to force compliance,
elicited a cryptic response from Surjeet K. Choudhary, secretary to the Tamilnadu
government and temporary board chairman. “Board is taking necessary action,” he wrote. 
 
Phone calls and emails to Secretary to the Union Environment Ministry Prodipto Ghosh and
to public relations chief Maria Doss went unanswered. 
 
Deforestation and Evictions 
 
The controversies have apparently not affected the company’s bottom line. The man behind
Vedanta/Sterlite, Anil Agarwal, reported that attributable profits for year ending in March
2005 were up 66 percent to $120 million."This has been an exceptional period for metal
prices driven by strong demand from China," as well as for "increased foreign investment
and the potential [for India] to become a major regional manufacturing hub," he said in
Vedanta’s annual report. Agarwal acknowledged that the company had benefitted from the
political climate. The Congress Party, elected in May 2004, "has maintained a policy of
growth and liberalization" favorable to his company, he reported. 
 
That growth is in no small part a consequence of Agarwal’s ability to work the system.
India’s commerce minister P. Chidambaram was on the Vedanta board until his party
assumed power in New Delhi last year. His replacement, 70-year old Naresh Chandra, is a
former cabinet secretary and senior advisor to the prime minister of India from 1992 to 1995,
and Indian ambassador to the US from 1996 to 2001.  
 
A cartoon in Business India depicts the Vedanta/Sterlite founder squeezing himself through
an hour-glass saying “In India, you must have patience. Everything will come through.”
Many concede that the London-based billionaire’s understanding of India’s decision-makers
is frighteningly accurate. 
 
Ritwick Dutta, a Supreme Court lawyer who has brought Vedanta’s violations in Orissa to
court, says that the company adopts a time-tested strategy: “They don’t go for small
violations. They go in for massive violations, bring it to light and then get post-facto
clearance after payment of an insignificant fine. In Orissa, they chopped down trees on 58
hectares, and gladly paid the fine of Rs. 30,000 or so ($650). Now, they have gone ahead and
clear-felled another 1,000 hectares of forests in Chattisgarh.” 
 
On September 21, another Supreme Court monitoring committee, this time the Central
Empowered Committee (CEC) on Forests, recommended revoking Vedanta Alumina Ltd’s
environmental clearance for a 1 million ton aluminium refinery in Lanjigarh, Orissa. The
CEC found that Vedanta had falsified information, destroyed 58 hectares of forest land and
begun construction without the required clearances. 
 
“The refinery’s viability is dependent on mining the nearby Niyamagiri hills which are in a
reserve forest. But the company failed to disclose this while seeking permission for the
refinery,” says Dutta. “Their strategy is to quickly invest money and build the refinery and
then plead with the authorities that their investment – nearly Rs. 3500 crores ($780 million)
 would be rendered unviable if the mine is not cleared.” The Lanjigarh plant is nearing
completion, while the mining proposal has yet to secure approval. 
 
Company head Agarwal brushed aside these concerns in his annual report. "There have been
some public interest submissions to a Supreme Court of India sub-committee, regarding the
environmental clearances for the bauxite mining and these are currently being addressed.  
 
Some activists suspect that the ways the company is addressing the problem is not to
ameliorate damage, but to work its special relationship with government officials. According
to Dutta and the CEC, the situation at Orissa throws the integrity of the authorities in
question. 
 
Indeed, the CEC hints at complicity between the company, the Union Ministry of
Environment and the Orissa government. In its report, the committee writes: “The casual
approach, the lackadaisical manner and the haste with which the entire issue of forests and
environmental clearance for the alumina refinery project has been dealt with smacks of
undue favour/leniency and does not inspire confidence with regard to the willingness and
resolve of both the State Government and the MoEF to deal with such matters keeping in
view the ultimate goal of national and public interest.” 
 
Besides the clear cutting, there is the issue of “demolition of tribal villages on the land that
Sterlite wanted to occupy,” says Dutta. In 2004, two tribal villages were razed, and the
residents were forcibly relocated to resettlement camps. Since then, two more villages have
been evicted with help from the state police and company-sponsored goons, according to
tribal rights activist Prafulla Samantara. 
 
As of November 10, armed police stationed around Lanjigarh were preventing tribals and
activists from congregating at the plant gate to protest the Vedanta project’s illegal
construction, said Samantara. Police have detained several tribal leaders and their supporters,
he said, and a cordon around the village was keeping him from protest site.  
 
The non-profit People’s Union of Civil Liberties investigated the human rights violations
reported by Lanjigarh residents and concluded: “It is hard to believe that [the area] is a part
of the same India that the elite continuously brags about having catapulted into twenty-first
century. ...The people are terrorised, and believe (perhaps rightly) that their attackers enjoy
the support of the police. This apprehension of the people is reinforced by the fact that the
attackers admit in public that they have attacked the agitating villages.”

Nityanand Jayaraman is a Chennai-based journalist investigating and reporting on

corporations
 
 
 

What is the problem?

Official reports suggest that mining Niyamgiri will result in massive deforestation,
destruction of local ecosystems and threaten water sources. If the land that the Kondh tribal
people are reliant on for their livelihoods is destroyed, it will be the end of a way of life that
has existed for centuries. 
 
There has already been widespread criticism of Vedanta’s toxic waste management at the
refinery. People living nearby have complained that pollution has reduced crop yields and
poisoned livestock and caused health problems. The Orissa State Pollution Control Board
Report in 2008 found that caustic soda seepage from the site was ‘alarming’ and that
ambient air quality was not conforming to standards.

Who is Vedanta Resources plc?

Vedanta Resources Plc is a UK metals and mining company. It operates throughout the
world, but particularly in India. It produces aluminium, copper, zinc and lead.Sterlite
Industries, a subsidiary of Vedanta, is currently set to start mining for bauxite (a raw form
of aluminium) from the Niyamgiri Hills in the State of Orissa. A refinery has already been
built at the base of the hills by another Vedanta subsidiary, Vedanta Aluminium Ltd. The
refinery is already operational with bauxite being brought in from other mining sites.

What is the planned Vedanta project?

The Niyamgiri Mountain is rich in a mineral called bauxite which is the raw form of alumina.
When alumina is refined it becomes aluminium – a cheap metal that is used the world over
to produce everything from saucepans to aeroplanes. 
 
Sterlite wants to build an open pit mine to extract bauxite from the top of the mountain,
which would then be transported down to the refinery at the base of the mountain.

Who is affected?

The Niyamgiri hills is the ancestral home of three tribal groups – the Dongria Kondh, Kutia
Kondh and the Jharania Kondh.  These tribal groups are supposed to be protected under
India’s Constitution as their distinctive way of life and culture makes them one of India’s
most vulnerable indigenous groups. 
 
For generations the thousands of people living in small groups across the mountain have
depended upon it for their lives.  The perennial springs provide water and the fruit and
animals provide their food as well as their medicines and livelihoods.  They also worship
Niyamgiri Mountain as their living god. 
 
The mountain is also a pristine ecosystem rich in biodiversity, which the Wildlife Institute of
India states has ‘great conservation significance’.  It is the abode of many endangered
species, such as tiger, leopards and elephants

What are we calling for?

The Indian Government to recognise and protect the constitutional rights of indigenous people to their ancestral
lands. "Wewill not leave Niyamgiri. Without our mountain, our god, there is no life
for us," says 36 year old Mali Majhi from the Kondh tribe.
Tribal communities in Orissa, India, are living in fear for their future due to the development
of a combined bauxite mining and alumina refinery project in the heart of their ancestral
home by a subsidiary of the UK mining and metals company, Vedanta Resources plc.

Until Vedanta came along, generations of indigenous people from the Dongria Kondh, Kutia
Kondha and Jharania tribes lived in the forests of Niyamgiri mountain, Orissa, foraging for
food, raising chickens and growing vegetables and rice.

Now tribal members say they've been involuntarily displaced from their homes and refused
compensation for their lost land. They are also concerned about the impact of mining on
Niyamgiri mountain, from which they derive many of the religious beliefs and cultural
practices that define their tribal identity.

History

Orissa and Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd, a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources plc have signed
a 'memorandum of understanding' with the Orissa government for establishing a bauxite
mine on the plateau atop Niyamgiri and a refinery at the foot of the mountain.

The company plans to mine over one million tonnes of bauxite a year from reserves
within Niyamgiri mountain.

Official studies have suggested that this is likely to lead to massive deforestation on the
slopes, the destruction of protected local ecosystems rich in biodiversity, and the
disruption of key water sources that supply springs and streams on the surrounding
hillsides and feed two rivers which irrigate large areas of farmland in southeast Orissa.

Protests about the threat the project poses to the forests local people depend upon for their
livelihoods have been repeatedly ignored by officials and the company.

After a three year case full of legal controversies, the Supreme Court has given clearance
for Vedanta to go ahead.

If mining is to be permitted, lawyers say two of India strongest Consitutional guarantess will
be overturned: the right to life and human dignity (article 21) and the right to
religious practises and beliefs (article 25).

The cost

Bratindi Jena of ActionAid is helping build support for the Kondh’s struggle to save their
mountain. She says the cost of mining would be phenomenal:

"Niyamgiri bauxite would come at the cost of clean water and pristine forest in an
otherwise drought-hit district. It also represents an outright assault on the culture
and religion of the indigenous people who live there." 
 
"Permitting mining would pave the way for persecution of a minority community
and deny legal protection for their religious beliefs," she adds.

In the words of 36 year old Malari, "For us this is a life and death fight."
A huge thank you to everyone who has supported the Vedanta campaign to stop a
mine being built on the Kondh tribal people’s home.

Your

Read a very interesting article in the Guardian on Saturday (26 June), which highlighted
the plight of indigenous tribes from across the world, as they fight to hang on to their land
and way of life. 

Across the globe, corporations like Vedanta are greedy to dig up the wealth of minerals
that lie beneath indigenous land.  This is ‘a human rights emergency’ from South America to
South India. 

But the communities are fighting back.  In Niyamgiri there is continuing activism, as
tribal members continue to peacefully protest against Vedanta construction workers.

Only this morning there was another piece of excellent news:  Last week, Vedanta was
trumpeting how they had bagged the prestigious Golden Peacock Environment award that is
instituted by the World Environment Foundation (WEF).  Since protests from activists about
Vedanta’s environmental record at the Global Convention on Climate Security, WEF are now
saying that they are rethinking the decision.

Vedanta is not invincible.  Every small win is important and reminds them that this battle is
far from over.

We must support the Kondh tribe’s struggle to stop the mine and send a message that
corporations cannot ride roughshod over people’s lives.

 .

                                                                                                                                                                              
          

Various  aspects of the it- the latest landmark decision of the Centre
rejecting environmental clearance to the Vedanta group’s $ 1.7 billion bauxite mining project in
Orissa’s Niyamgiri hills with Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam
Ramesh citing serious violations of the Environment Protection Act 1966, Forest Counservation
Act 1980 and Forest Rights Act 2006 by both the Orissa Government and Vedanta in this regard.

The four-member committee headed by N.C. Saxena should be congratulated for exposing the
many illegal and unethical aspects of Vedanta’s proposed Niyamgiri Mining Project in Orissa.
However, it needs to be pointed out that the illegality of this project was well-established even
before this panel submitted its report. This is evident from the report the Central Empowered
Committee (CEC) (constituted by the Supreme Court) submitted in 2005.

In its ‘observations and conclusions’ the CEC drew attention to several important aspects of this
project and its execution. In the notice dated June 6, 2002, issued for the land acquisition for the
alumina refinery project by the Collector, Kalahandi, it was mentioned that

lands for compensatory afforestation shall be provided at other places in lieu of 118 acres of
existing village forest coming inside of project area.

On this basis the CEC had drawn attention to the fact that the State Government even at that
early date was aware about the involvement of forest land in the project. Yet in the application
dated March 19, 2003 filed by Messers Sterlite (parent company of Messers Vedanta) for
seeking environmental clearance for the project it was stated that nil forest land is required for
the alumina factory and that within a radius of 10 km of the project site there is no forest, which
is not correct.

Later though a proposal for the use of 59 hectares forest land for this project was pending before
the MoEF, the environmental clearance for the alumina refinery was accorded by it on
September 22, 2004 stating that “the project does not involve diversion of forest land”.

In the words of the CEC,

Had the guidelines issued by the MoEF been followed, or the environmental wing of the MoEF
had taken cognisance about the involvement of the forest land in the Project or if Messers
Vedanta had furnished the correct information in its application for the environmental clearance,
the construction work on the alumina refinery would not have been started at all.

Pointing out another serious distortion in the environmental clearance of this project by the
MoEF, the CEC had stated that normally this is accorded after assessing the environmental
issues associated with the linked mining project. Initially the MoEF had stated explicitly that it’ll
follow this normal procedure, but later, following a request by Messers Sterlite, the MoEF went
out of its way to in effect delink the alumina refinery project and the mining project by granting
the in-principle environmental clearance for the refinery project.

Criticising this decision the CEC said:

Such delinking is objectionable because the alumina refinery project has been located in
Lanjigarh because of its proximity to the proposed mining site at Niyamgiri Hills, Lanjigarh. In
the event, for the mining component the environmental clearance and/or the forest clearance is
rejected, the expenditure of about Rs 4000 crores being incurred on the protect will become
infructuous.

The illegality of the way the work on this project has proceeded will be evident from a reading of
para 4.4 of the guidelines laid down by the MoEF: Some projects involve use of forest land as
well as non-forest land. State Governments/Project Authorities sometimes start work on non-
forest land in anticipation of the approval of the Central Government for release of the forest
lands required for the projects. Though the provisions of the Act may not have technically been
violated by starting of work on non-forest lands, expenditure incurred on works on non-forest
lands may prove to be infructuous if diversion of forest land involved is not approved. It has
therefore been decided that if a project involves forest as well as non-forest land, work should
not be started on non-forest land till approval of the Central Government for release of forest
land under the Act has been given.

Examining the execution of this project in the light of these guidelines, the CEC concluded:

The Alumina Refinery construction work has started and continued in blatant violation of the
above stated guidelines.

Later when this was exposed, quick-fix actions were initiated by Messers Vedanta (who said
they don’t need 59 hectares of forest anyway for the refinery), the Orissa Government and the
MoEF (who then gave the go-ahead to Messers Vedanta). All this was accomplished within five
days, showing that vested interests work most efficiently when they have to cover-up their
illegalities. It is another matter that all these desperate actions still left behind a trail of illegal
acts. Among other things, it was pointed out by the CEC that 10.41 acres of the said land was
found to have been encroached by Messers Vedanta by way of land breaking and levelling
activities for which forest offence cases have been registered and show-cause notices have been
issued by the Orissa Forest Department.

The CEC also summarised various objections filed by the applicants: As per the applicants
Niyamgiri Hills forms the source of the Vamsdhara river and a major tributary of the Nagvalli.
Thirtysix streams originate from within the mining lease area. Most of these streams are
perennial—due to springs originating just below the bauxite escarpment. These are used for
irrigation as well as a source of drinking water by the people living in the adjoining villages. By
mining of bauxite deposits at the top of Niyamgiri the water retention capacity of the bauxite
deposit will be destroyed. The mining will lead to the flow of mineral overburden into the
streams. In the process it will destroy the micro-niches along the streams.

...As per the applicants the location of the pond for the red mud, which is a mix of highly toxic
alkaline chemicals and contains a cocktail of heavy metals including radio-active elements, and
the Ash Pond on the Vamsdhara river may cause serious water pollution. The breach of the red
mud and the ash pond may cause severe damages downstream. The potential for such an
occurrence has not been properly assessed.

Finally, the CEC recommended:

The CEC is of the considered view that the use of the forest land in an ecologically sensitive area
like the Niyamgiri Hills should not be permitted. The casual approach, the lackadaisical manner
and the haste with which the entire issue of forests and environmental clearance for the alumina
refinery project has been dealt with smacks of undue favour/leniency and does not inspire
confidence with regard to the willingness and resolve of both the State Government and the
MoEF to deal with such matters keeping in view the ultimate goal of national and public interest.
In the instant case had a proper study been conducted before embarking on a project of this
nature and magnitude involving massive investment, the objections to the project from
environmental/ecological/forest angle would have become known in the beginning itself and in
all probability the project would have been abandoned at this site.

Keeping in view all the facts and circumstances brought out in the preceding paragraphs it is
recommended that this Hon’ble Court may consider revoking the environmental clearance dated
September 22, 2004 granted by MoEF for setting up of the Alumina Refinery Plant by Messers
Vedanta and directing them to stop further work on the project. This project may only be
reconsidered after an alternative bauxite mine site is identified.

BAUXITE mining and aluminium extraction is generally known for its numerous adverse
environmental impacts. Particularly troublesome is the disposal of alkaline mud (or ‘red mud’).
Other problems are related to the release of caustic soda (used to extract alumina from raw
bauxite) into the ground water, increasing sodium concentration in the water of wells.

Learning from the experience of a previous project, Felix Patel (an authropologist) and
Sumarendra Das (a senior journalist) wrote recently: This type of refinery is highly polluting. To
comprehend the impact it would have on the local environment one has only to visit Damanjodi,
150 kms. away in Koraput district. This is Nalco’s refinery, next to its 20 km. long bauxite mine
on the mountain of Panchpat Mali. The area for miles around already resembles a desert, and the
tribal villages have faced cultural genocide. Among the worst pollutants of such factories are the
fumes and the highly toxic waste product known as Red Mud, full of heavy metals, which
invariably has a highly damaging effect on water sources.

In the case of the present project the possibilities of ecological and cultural disruption as well as
adverse impacts on livelihood are all the more accentuated because of the sensitive ecology of
the Niyamgiri region, the special cultural niche of the area and its very close integration with the
life of the tribals and also because of the large-scale, mechanised open-cast mining involved in
the project.

The Niyamgiri hills in the Eastern Ghats region have a very special place in the life and legends
of Dongria Kondhas (a primitive tribe) who live here. The very identity of being a Dongria
Kondha is linked up with residing and possessing land here and passing it on to posterity.

Along with Dongria Kondhas, the Niyamgiri hills are homes of Kutia Kondhas and Jharania
Kondhas, all primitive tribal groups famed for their horticulture. They live in about 200 villages
scattered throughout the hill range. All of them, as well as the Majhi Kondhs who live in the
plains below, regard the Niyamgiri as sacred home, as their place of origin.

A report prepared by Environmental Protection Group on the ecological importance of this

region says:
The rare indigenous tribes in Niyamgiri have developed, practised and nurtured their life and
livelihood patterns with forest and wildlife forming a formidable system of mutual dependence.

The livelihood of Dongria Kondhas is closely related to the Niyamgiri forests. They collect
various types of forest products and sell these at nearby weekly haats. Around 40 to 50 per cent
of their annual income is obtained from the selling of forest products like siali leaves,
myrobalans, amla etc. They grow fruits like pineapples under the thick forests. They aren’t at all
known for hunting. The census for 2001 revealed that the total population of this tribe is 7952.

The cultural aspects are no less important. The Niyamgiri hills are highly valued for the religious
lore associated with these. The proposed mining area at the top of the Niyamgiri hills is an
extremely sacred place for Dongria Kondhas. Hence hunting or cutting trees on Niyamraja range
is taboo for them. But if this area is blasted for mining then this will be a great cultural shock for
these simple people.

It is very important to keep in mind this economic, ecological and cultural importance of the
Niyamgiri hills iLanjigarh is a village situated in the hilly landscape of Kalahandi District in Orissa. Today Lanjigarh is
synonymous with Vedanta Aluminium Ltd’s project that consists of a state-of-the-art Alumina Refinery and proposed
Niyamgiri bauxite mine that was identified for mining by the Government of Orissa all the way back in the late 1970’s, well
before the formation of Vedanta Resources. In the late 1990’s, Sterlite Industries India Limited (SIIL), a Vedanta
subsidiary, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) for development of
Bauxite Mines and setting up of an Alumina Refinery at Lanjigarh. Only after extensive studies of the impact the project
would have on the environment, wildlife, and most importantly the people living in the area, did Vedanta move ahead with
actual construction of the refinery in 2004. Consultation was conducted with the local inhabitants in line with the rules and
regulations of the country. 
 
The Vedanta Alumina Refinery is a greenfield refinery with an existing capacity of 1 mtpa, which will be expanded to
5mtpa. It is the first Alumina Refinery in India to adopt the Zero Discharge System, i.e. no water or effluent is discharged
externally from the refinery. The plant is located at a distance of approximately 3 km from the main streets of the
Lanjigarh village. Large industrial projects require land leading to some amount of displacement. Vedanta designed this
project to minimize displacement of the people who lived in the area. In the alumina refinery project, about 121 families
were displaced after extensive consultation with them, and only after they gave consent to be displaced and rehabilitated.
There are stringent rules and regulations in India around displacing people, and Vedanta followed these regulations. These
families have been successfully resettled in a modern housing colony that was built by Vedanta, just 1-2 km from their
original homes, so that they would still continue to live in the same area that they have been living for generations. 
 
While the refinery has commenced operations, the mining has not yet begun. The proposed bauxite mine is located just 5
km from the refinery, thus minimizing the carbon footprint that comes from transporting raw materials over large
distances. In mining operations, movement of materials by truck can cause disturbance to local communities. In the case
of the Lanjigarh project, the bauxite will be transported to the refinery by an environment-friendly, covered pipe conveyor
system, thus minimizing noise, dust and vehicle exhaust. Further, the proposed bauxite mines are located in an
uninhabited area, so no families will be displaced from the mining area.  
 
Vedanta has projects in various states of India and is committed to the highest standards of Health, Safety, Environment
and Community Engagement. Vedanta Aluminium Limited (VAL) has been conferred with a number of awards such as the
British Safety Council Award 2009, Green Business Leadership Award 2009 and the St. John Ambulance Annual Award
2008. The CEO of Vedanta Aluminium Ltd. was awarded the Global Ethical Practices award in January 2010. Vedanta’s
Alumina Refinery at Lanjigarh also holds certifications of Quality management system-ISO 9001-2008, Environmental
Management System- ISO 14001-2004 and Occupational Health and Safety Management System-OHSAS-18001-2007.  
 
The Lanjigarh Alumina Refinery – Operational Since 2007  
The Vedanta Alumina Refinery at Lanjigarh currently has a refining capacity of 1 mtpa and plans to expand its capacity
upto 5mtpa. The plant employs state-of-the-art technology and environmental practices. Spread across an area of 2060
acres, the plant symbolizes industrial progress and development in the region. 
 
Salient Features:

 Close proximity to the raw material (5 km from the Bauxite Mine), and well connected rail and road network in
addition to easy access to ports.
 Zero Effluent Discharge Technology – no water or effluent discharged externally from the refinery.
  Use of environment-friendly pipe conveyor system to transport bauxite from the Mine to the Refinery.
 High Concentration Slurry Disposal technology for Red Mud and Ash i.e. pumping at high solid concentration
ranging which requires low water usage.

The Proposed Niyamgiri Mine – Mining not yet commenced 

The bauxite deposit that is identified to supply bauxite to the Vedanta Refinery is located on one hill in the Niyamgiri Hill
Range. Out of the approximately 250 sq km Niyamgiri Hill range, only a 4-5 sq km area of one hill will be mined. 
 
The deposit lies between latitude levels of 19-38’ to 19-41’N and longitude levels of 83-22’ to 83-24’E - at an altitude of
1,050 meters to 1,306 meters above mean sea level. The bauxite is located in localized pockets up to a maximum depth of
30-35 meters. 
 
The distance between the mining area and the Refinery is approximately 5 km. The mining of bauxite will be carried out by
the state-owned Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC), under a joint venture with Sterlite Industries. The mined bauxite will be
transferred to the Refinery through a quiet and efficient pipe conveyor. Concurrently, a sustainable back-fill and
reclamation sequence will be implemented that facilitate the green belt development. The proposed mining area is
uninhabited and no families will be displaced.  
 
All compliances required for mining as per Government rules and requirements have been complied with, and the final
clearance is awaited. There was a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed in 2004 in the Supreme Court of India against the
mining project. The Supreme Court examined all aspects of the project in detail and cleared the project in 2008. The
Supreme Court directed SIIL to plough back the higher of 5% of the profit earned from the project, or Rs. 100 million
(c.USD 2 million) on the development of the area, which SIIL will fully comply with. This is being implemented through the
Lanjigarh Project Area Development Foundation (LPADF) – a special purpose vehicle (SPV) formed by the Government of
Orissa, Orissa Mining Corporation and Sterlite Industries. Rs.200 million (c.USD 4 million) for 2007-08 and 2008-09 has
already been deposited with the SPV. Besides, Rs.122 million (c.USD 2.5 million) have already been submitted for tribal
development with CAMPA (Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority).Development Projects
worth Rs.170 million (c.USD 3.6 million) have been identified and approved by the SPV in the first Board meeting held in
October 2009. 
 
Salient Features

Mine Lease Owner Orissa Mining Corporation

Capacity of Mine 3.0 mtpa Bauxite
Mining Lease Area 721.323 ha
Geological Reserves 88.7 mt
Mineable Reserves 77.7 mt
Method of Mining Opencast

 
 
Project Approval Procedure  
 
India has stringent rules and regulations with regards to Mining. Multiple processes and procedures are in place to assess
the merit of every project. Vedanta’s Lanjigarh project has been put through exhaustive scrutiny and after satisfying
outcomes, the authorities, including the Honorable Supreme Court of India have given the ‘go ahead’ to the project in
principle, along with mandatory guidelines. The refinery has commenced operations after receiving all approvals, while the
mining has not yet commenced as it awaits final forest diversion clearance.  
 
New projects are granted approval by India’s Central Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) as per prevailing
guidelines of the Government of India which involves the following steps:

1. Application is submitted to the MoEF for grant of site clearance.

2. Preparation of Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report taking into account data for the following: 
(i) Resettlement and rehabilitation study, if applicable 
(ii) Hydrology and hydrogeology study 
(iii) Ground water/surface water withdrawal permission  
(iv) Details of flora and fauna in the area  
(v) Details of the impact of project on air, water and ground topography
 3. Submission of the EIA report to the State Pollution Control Board with a request to conduct the Public
Consultation process.
4. Obtaining permission from the District Collector regarding the place, date and nomination of their representative
to attend the Public Consultation.
5. Publication of the notice of public consultation in two newspapers, one national and another at the local level with
a 30 day holdover period for comments, if any in the English and local language and also inform people through
word of mouth and through local community leaders.
6. Conducting the Public Consultation with a presentation to the attendees and recording of the minutes of the
meeting by a State Pollution Control Board Official. It also involves consulting the “Gram Sabha” or the council
of local villagers where the project is situated.
7. Incorporation of the issues raised in the Public Consultation process along with replies to each such issue in the
EIA report and submission to MoEF with all the study reports.
8. Issue of ‘No Objection Certificate’ (Consent to Establish) by the State Pollution Control Board.
9. Filing application to the MoEF along with the No Objection Certificate, for grant of environmental clearance for the
project.

Vedanta’s  Lanjigarh Project has passed through all these stages of Project Approval, before it was granted
permission to proceed. 
 
Chronology of Events for the Lanjigarh Project

 April 1997: An MOU was signed between SIIL and OMC for development of Bauxite Mines and setting up of
Alumina Refinery at Lanjigarh.
 February and March 2003: A Public Hearing was conducted at Lanjigarh and Muniguda for grant of No Objection
Certificate (NOC). This was followed by filing of application along with the EIA, to MoEF for environmental
clearance
 May 2003: The NOC was granted for the Project by the State Pollution Control Board
 June 2003: An MOU was signed between SIIL and the Government of Orissa for setting up the Alumina Refinery.
 September 2004: The Mining Lease of Lanjigarh was granted in favour of OMC and Environmental Clearance for
the 1 mtpa refinery.
 December 2004: Site inspection was carried out by the fact finding team of CEC (Central Empowered Committee)
that was appointed by the Supreme Court of India to look into the petitions filed in relation to the Project. The
CEC submitted its report to the Supreme Court of India in September 2005.
 June 2005: An Application was filed by OMC for the grant of Environmental clearance for the project along with
EIA.
 March 2006: Based on CEC observations, the Supreme Court directed MoEF to appoint subject matter experts.
The MoEF appointed WII (Wildlife Institute of India), Dehradun and CMPDI (Central Mine Planning and Design
Institute Limited), Ranchi to conduct studies relating to biodiversity including wildlife and their habitat, soil
erosion, hydrogeological characteristics and flow of natural water sources.
 September 2007: MoEF was directed by the Supreme Court to present a report on impact of bauxite mining on
flora, fauna and tribal habitation in Kalahandi and Koraput Districts of Orissa.
 October 2007: MoEF submitted the report on the impact of bauxite mining on flora, fauna and tribal habitation in
Kalahandi and Koraput Districts and an order was passed by the Supreme Court, directing the Orissa
Government to submit a detailed report on the same.
 November 2007: Disposal of applications filed by Vedanta Aluminium Limited (VAL). Subsequently, Court ordered
SIIL (an Indian subsidiary of Vedanta Resources plc) to file an application for grant of mining clearance if SIIL,
OMC and the Government of Orissa were agreeable to the Rehabilitation Programme suggested in the order.
 December 2007: An Application was filed by SIIL to the Supreme Court complying with the directions of the
court. A joint venture was formed between OMC and VAL, whereby the joint venture company would mine the
bauxite on behalf of OMC and OMC to continue to remain as the Lessee.
 August 2008: The Supreme Court passed a Final order, clearing the project, and approving the forest diversion
proposal for 660.749 ha of forest land to undertake bauxite mining on the Niyamgiri Hills in Lanjigarh.
 December 2008: Receipt of Stage-I approval by Government of India for diversion of 660.749 Ha of land required
for the Mining Project, followed by OMC submitting the final Mining Plan to IBM (Indian Bureau of Mines) for
approval which got approved in January 2009.
 February 2009: SPV Agreement was executed between OMC, SIIL and Government of Orissa as per the Supreme
Court Order.
  April 2009 : Environmental Clearance granted for Mining Project by MoEF.
 April 2009: Receipt of Stage-I approval for diversion of 33.73 Ha of forest land for construction of conveyor and
Mine Access Road for the mining project. Followed by the grant of environmental clearance for the Mining
project by MoEF. 
Stage-II Forest diversion clearance is awaited for the mining project in order to commence operations.

n order to understand the disruptiMetals giant Vedanta Resources’ Indian subsidiary has
launched an unprecedented attack on Survival International, apparently to drive its researchers
out of an area where the company is planning to mine.

The mining company has falsely accused Survival of ‘forcedly interacting’ with the Dongria
Kondh tribe who live around the area earmarked for mining, and of causing ‘unrest.’ Vedanta
has prompted a police investigation into Survival, with officers making a late night visit to a
hotel where they believed Survival researchers were staying.

Survival researchers were in the Niyamgiri area of Orissa, east India, to talk with members of the
Dongria Kondh community whose future is threatened by a proposed Vedanta mine on their
sacred mountain.

Pavan Kaushik, Vedanta Group’s head of corporate communications, wrote to journalists

alleging that ‘foreign NGOs including Survival International… are provoking innocent tribal’s to
defame the government and the company’. In the letter, he attacked ‘foreigners’ for ‘freely
moving in the region’ and alleged that they were circulating ‘false information’. The letter also
invites journalists to contact the regional Superintendent of Police, who is named as available for
interview.

In September the British government ruled that Vedanta had repeatedly failed to respect the
human rights of the Dongria Kondh, demanding a change in the company’s behaviour. The
government asked Survival to report back on what steps Vedanta had taken to implement these
‘essential’ changes before the end of the year.

Gordon Bennett, a London barrister who represented the Kalahari Bushmen in their historic win
over the Botswana government, has been acting on behalf of the Dongria Kondh in their
complaint over Vedanta’s behaviour, and accompanied the Survival researchers.

He said today, ‘We have not circulated any false information about Vedanta’s mining activities.
All the information we have given the Dongria has been culled from Vedanta’s own mining plan,
which it has never troubled to discuss with the Dongria itself. We have not ‘forcedly interacted’
with the Dongrias: on the contrary we have been warmly welcomed by all those we have been
able to meet.

‘We have not provoked ‘innocent tribals’ to defame either the government or Vedanta. It is true
to say however that feelings run high in Niyamgiri and that many Dongria regard Vedanta with
suspicion and distrust. They believe that their way of life is under serious threat.
‘We have done nothing to create ‘misunderstanding’. It is Vedanta which has done this, both by
its refusal to meet with us, and more importantly by its repeated failure either to consult the
Dongria about its plans for their sacred hills, or to pay any regard to their views.’

He added, ‘If Vedanta has nothing to hide, it is difficult to understand why it has gone out of its
way to obstruct our inquiries. Their press release is entirely without foundation.’

ve impact of this projectMetals giant Vedanta Resources’ Indian subsidiary has launched an
unprecedented attack on Survival International, apparently to drive its researchers out of an area
where the company is planning to mine.

The mining company has falsely accused Survival of ‘forcedly interacting’ with the Dongria
Kondh tribe who live around the area earmarked for mining, and of causing ‘unrest.’ Vedanta
has prompted a police investigation into Survival, with officers making a late night visit to a
hotel where they believed Survival researchers were staying.

Survival researchers were in the Niyamgiri area of Orissa, east India, to talk with members of the
Dongria Kondh community whose future is threatened by a proposed Vedanta mine on their
sacred mountain.

Pavan Kaushik, Vedanta Group’s head of corporate communications, wrote to journalists

alleging that ‘foreign NGOs including Survival International… are provoking innocent tribal’s to
defame the government and the company’. In the letter, he attacked ‘foreigners’ for ‘freely
moving in the region’ and alleged that they were circulating ‘false information’. The letter also
invites journalists to contact the regional Superintendent of Police, who is named as available for
interview.

In September the British government ruled that Vedanta had repeatedly failed to respect the
human rights of the Dongria Kondh, demanding a change in the company’s behaviour. The
government asked Survival to report back on what steps Vedanta had taken to implement these
‘essential’ changes before the end of the year.

Gordon Bennett, a London barrister who represented the Kalahari Bushmen in their historic win
over the Botswana government, has been acting on behalf of the Dongria Kondh in their
complaint over Vedanta’s behaviour, and accompanied the Survival researchers.

He said today, ‘We have not circulated any false information about Vedanta’s mining activities.
All the information we have given the Dongria has been culled from Vedanta’s own mining plan,
which it has never troubled to discuss with the Dongria itself. We have not ‘forcedly interacted’
with the Dongrias: on the contrary we have been warmly welcomed by all those we have been
able to meet.

‘We have not provoked ‘innocent tribals’ to defame either the government or Vedanta. It is true
to say however that feelings run high in Niyamgiri and that many Dongria regard Vedanta with
suspicion and distrust. They believe that their way of life is under serious threat.
‘We

ENVIRONMENT BECAME THE KEY

FOCUS-India's decision to reject UK-based Vedanta's plans to mine bauxite points to tighter
enforcement of environment laws, a commitment to playing by the rules rather than a political campaign
against mega-corporations.

In a landmark decision on Tuesday, the environment ministry blocked Vedanta's mining project in Orissa
because the forest-hills it would have destroyed are intertwined with the lives and livelihoods of local
primitive tribes.

It was a stunning victory for a four-year-long global campaign for the Dongria Kondh tribe against a giant
mining firm that has been pitchforked into India's debate over environmental laws.

It also infused life into the environment ministry with its maverick minister, Jairam Ramesh, whose tussle
with his cabinet colleagues on clearing forests for mining and roads underlines India's struggle for
sustainable growth.

"What Jairam Ramesh is doing is saying if you have to do business here play it by the rule, no
sidetracking environment, no backdoor, which is a good thing," said R.K. Gupta, managing director of
Taurus Mutual Fund.

"The clear signal to overseas investors is that you can not take environmental clearance for granted.
Things will not be done as they used to be in the past. This is course correction."

Commentators point out that thousands of factories get built in India every year and the government has
clearly encouraged industrial projects - evidence analysts say that the ruling Congress party is not anti-
development.

Hero or villian?

Ramesh's stand in a country focused on development and raring to take the global high table has meant
he is also scoffed at by some as an inflexible "green fundamentalist".

For years, the environmental ministry was seen as rubber-stamping projects. But Ramesh has scrapped
or delayed clearance for some 100 mining projects, including those backed by South Korea's POSCO,
drawing protests that he is hurting development in a nation short of power and raw materials.

A second airport in Mumbai is caught in the environment debate as are dozens of road and dam projects.

Ramesh has also cracked down on illegal mining, often done with help from local politicians, and brought
more accountability in a sector that had minimal environmental regulations.

Underlying all this is a realisation in India that enforcing environmental rules does not have to hurt growth,
can boost the idea of a rule of law and make government policies transparent.

"This not a problem typical to India, it is a developing country phenomenon; Brazil has realised, Australia
faced this." said Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, an independent political economist.
Government sources say POSCO could be given permission for its USD 12 billion steel mill in Orissa in 2
months because its problems were not quite the same as Vedanta's.

_PAEGBREAK_

Political dividend

Mining lobbies have accused Ramesh of witch-hunting multinational corporations, saying he is going after
projects in states not controlled by the Congress ruling party.

Orissa is one of these non-Congress states and its chief minister, Naveen Patnaik reacted to the
scrapping of the Vedanta project by saying: "I hope there was no politics (involved)."

And as if anticipating such charges, Ramesh, while rejecting the proposal on Tuesday, said: "There is no
emotion, no politics, no prejudice ... I have taken the decision in a purely legal approach. That these laws
are being violated."

But in India, saving the environment is a political issue.

Years of uncontrolled mining has pushed tribal people off their forest land, alienating them and fuelling
insurgencies that feed off a perceived neglect of the poor.

In India, two-thirds of the population makes a living from farming and a growing Maoist rebellion has
capitalised on a wider resentment over the government's seizure of land for industry.

So, Ramesh's tough stand on environment could also help his ruling Congress party reap political
dividends by restoring the lost support of millions of tribespeople.

And in pursuing his environment policies, Ramesh's hand is probably strengthened by support from his
Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi. He was close to her husband Rajiv, a former prime minister, who was
instrumental in bringing Ramesh into politics.

The 56 year-old minister, a sprightly new kid on the block by the standards of India's grandfatherly
politicians, is pushing a reformist agenda against more traditional figures within the government who have
often focused more on political expediency.

When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appointed him environment minister last year, months ahead of
the Copenhagen climate conference, Ramesh created a flutter by suggesting that India could be more
flexible in its negotiating stance at the Copenhagen summit. He soon backed down, and even seemed
contrite.

"In our country, you are not accepted if you start thinking out of the box," Ramesh, a former U.S.-
educated civil servant, said after the controversy.

Kalahandi has been in the news since middle of 1980s when India Today reported sale of a child
by its parents due to financial crisis. That article led the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi to pay
a visit to the district and brought the district to the attention of the national stage for its acute
poverty and famine. Subsequently similar reported cases of starvation deaths and sale of children
have led to the announcement of a host of relief efforts and development projects. Prime Minister
P. V. Narasimha Rao announced the famous KBK project (Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput) in
1994. Nonetheless, Kalahandi has not been able to take off despite of hosts of programmes,
largely because of lacuna at implementation stage. As the basic infrastructure is dismal state, the
development progress is very slow.

But some development in the recent past has shown some sign of progress. The Indravati Water
Project, second biggest in the state has changed the landscape of southern Kalahandi, leading to
two-three crops in a year. Because of this, blocks like Bhawanipatna, Jayapatna, Dharamgarh are
witnessing rapid agriculural growth. Vedanta Alumina Limited (VAL), a subsidiary of Sterlite
Industries, a major aluminium processor has made major investments in the Kalahandi-Koraput
range by establishing an 1 MTPA Alumina Refinery and 75 MW Captive Power Plant at
Lanjigarh. The compnay has also proposed for Expansion of the Refinery to 6 MTPA, which will
make it one of the largest refinery in the world. Though this project has received criticism from
environmentalists, especially from outside groups; supporters of VAL claims it has brought
significant changes in Socio-Economic scenario of Lanjigarh and Kalahandi.

[edit] Recent Developments

Kalahandi also is an example of disparity /contrasts that exist in many part of
developing/underdeveloped world. On the one side, this district is famous for famine and
starvation deaths: this is the same district that boasts of among the Highest Number of Rice Mills
in Orissa. The number of rice mills in the district was around 150 in the year 2004-05. More than
70% have been built in the five years after commissioning of the Indravati project. The rice mill
business is so lucrative that businessman from adjoining districts and states have invested
directly or indirectly. Most of the rice mills purchase paddy from the government allotted
villages through panchayat and sell the rice to Food Corporation of India. As many rice mills are
competing for paddy, the price paid the farmers has increased in the recent past. But much needs
to be done as the Rice mill Owners are primarily profit-oriented. No remarkable Farmers'
Movement is seen in the areas so far. To articulate the voice & rights of the Kalahandia, people
have waited for a 'mahatma'to descend amidst them.

Orissa government has also set up a private medical college with a tie up with one South India
based organisation in Junagarh block of Kalahandi. This has the potential of changing the health
infrastructure of the adjoining blocks in the locality. Recently Orissa state Government has
announced to establish a Government Engineering College and an Agriculture College at
Bhawanipatna but local demand for a Central University in Kalahandi has not been
accomplished.People are joining the Separate State Movement for the creation of 'Koshal'
state.The 'Koshal Mukti Rath'of Mr.Balgopal Mishra,a former M.P.7 M.L.A. has been widely
wel comed by the people of Kalahandi.