Brakes applied

Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL) recently received a major setback when the Orissa High Court rejected the company's plea for a six-fold expansion of its one-million tonne per annum alumina refinery in Lanjigarh in Kalahandi district. The company, under the leadership of its Chairman, Anil Agarwal had filed a petition in the court on November 12, 2010, quashing the order of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) order allowing the expansion plan. It had cited in its petition that MoEF had denied the expansion mainly on the grounds that public hearing for the project was held after the work had started. VAL maintained that the main expansion work had started only after the public hearing, while the MoEF charged the company with continuing the project without environmental permits. What solution ultimately emerges out of this debate, remains to be seen.