London-based Vedanta Resources, which has set up an alumina project in Orissa’s Kalahandi district, got a lot of flak from the Opposition in the state Assembly on Wednesday.
The Opposition—which walked out after levelling the serious accusations—said Vedanta Alumina Ltd’s plant is running in violation of Supreme Court directives.
The members said the huge kickback involved in the deal was the reason why the company was allowed to run the plant against court orders.
Narsinhga Mishra of the Congress said the Supreme Court has expressed its doubt on the credibility of Vedanta Alumina Ltd. “It is a company that’s not to be trusted,” he said.
According to Mishra, the Supreme Court said that Vedanta is not a subsidiary but an associate company of Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd.
But, he said, the chief minister misled the people of the state by saying that Vedanta is a subsidiary of Sterlite.
His party colleagues, Nalini Mohanty, Satyabhusan Sahu and Sadan Nayak, alleged that the state government showed favour to the company, which has already been blacklisted by the Norway government, in return for a huge kickback.
The state’s steel and mines minister, Pradip Amat, said the refinery at Langigarh in Kalahandi district is not running in violation of the Supreme Court’s order. According to him, the court said in its order that if Sterlite, Orissa Mining Corp and the state government jointly agree to comply with the rehabilitation package lai down, the court may consider granting clearance to the project.
“The court is not against the project in principle.”
Sterlite, meanwhile, has filed applications in the Supreme Court confirming its agreement with the stipulation of the court.
The minister said the court’s order does not prevent operation of the refinery.
Vedanta’s project is likely to face further trouble — AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi has made it clear that he is against the project, so the Opposition Congress is getting ready to launch a campaign against it.