Foundation asked to stop all construction works
Anil Agarwal’s plan to establish the Rs. 150 billion Vedanta University in Orissa has hit a roadblock. On May 11, 2010, the Union Ministry of Forest and Environment has kept in abeyance the environmental and Coastal Regulatory Zone clearance that it had granted for the establishment of the proposed education institution near the Puri-Konark marine drive spread over 6,892 acre. Besides that, the Ministry has also directed the Foundation to stop further construction on the site. The Ministry has issued the letter after objections raised during the Orissa Coastal Zone Management Authority Meeting.
In July 2006, the Orissa government signed an MoU with the Vedanta Foundation, later renamed the Anil Agarwal Foundation, for setting up the Vedanta University an par with world-class universities like Stanford, Oxford, Harvard etc. Later on, Vedanta’s proposal to acquire 6,000 acres on the Puri-Konark coastal belt rolled into the rough because of environmental concerns. But the government, after considering the issues, decided to pass a bill in July 2009 to allow the university to be set up.
This led to petitions being filed in the Lok Pal by labour union leader Dwaraka Mohan Mishra. Justice R.K.Patra of Lok Pal subsequently expressed his views over the previous MoU for land allotment to Vedanta University. In a 26 page order, the Lok Pal observed: “The MoU signed by the parties doesn’t constitute a legally enforceable contract.” The Lok Pal’s findings indicated that the 6,000 acres targeted by the Foundation includes 1,300 acres of arable land belonging to the Jagannath Temple and another large stretch of land containing huge quantities of thorium and other rare minerals. This apparently violates the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, and the Shri Jagannath Temple Act, 1954.
But the Lok Pal logically also supported the project in a neutral way. Justice Patra has asked the State government to constitute a vigilance cell to monitor the progress of the project. Besides, Lok Pal wants the government to offer land to the foundation in phases to ensure the full educational use of the land. But the recent direction issued by the Union Ministry of Forest and Environment seems to be the toughest one for Vedanta as the environmental and Coastal Regulatory Zone clearance is imperative for the university to come up without future hindrances.
Given that the Foundation still has much at stake in Orissa – and not all this stake commercial – it would be highly pertinent for both the Ministry and the Foundation to get into a mode of resolving the issue rather than keeping it hanging, more so as a positive resolution of the issue would perchance provide Orissa with a university at global standards – something that Orissa direly needs to up its global investment image – and a negative resolution would free up the land for alternative use. Non-resolution of the issue could put a bad light on future investments into the state.
Anil Agarwal’s plan to establish the Rs. 150 billion Vedanta University in Orissa has hit a roadblock. On May 11, 2010, the Union Ministry of Forest and Environment has kept in abeyance the environmental and Coastal Regulatory Zone clearance that it had granted for the establishment of the proposed education institution near the Puri-Konark marine drive spread over 6,892 acre. Besides that, the Ministry has also directed the Foundation to stop further construction on the site. The Ministry has issued the letter after objections raised during the Orissa Coastal Zone Management Authority Meeting.
In July 2006, the Orissa government signed an MoU with the Vedanta Foundation, later renamed the Anil Agarwal Foundation, for setting up the Vedanta University an par with world-class universities like Stanford, Oxford, Harvard etc. Later on, Vedanta’s proposal to acquire 6,000 acres on the Puri-Konark coastal belt rolled into the rough because of environmental concerns. But the government, after considering the issues, decided to pass a bill in July 2009 to allow the university to be set up.
This led to petitions being filed in the Lok Pal by labour union leader Dwaraka Mohan Mishra. Justice R.K.Patra of Lok Pal subsequently expressed his views over the previous MoU for land allotment to Vedanta University. In a 26 page order, the Lok Pal observed: “The MoU signed by the parties doesn’t constitute a legally enforceable contract.” The Lok Pal’s findings indicated that the 6,000 acres targeted by the Foundation includes 1,300 acres of arable land belonging to the Jagannath Temple and another large stretch of land containing huge quantities of thorium and other rare minerals. This apparently violates the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, and the Shri Jagannath Temple Act, 1954.
But the Lok Pal logically also supported the project in a neutral way. Justice Patra has asked the State government to constitute a vigilance cell to monitor the progress of the project. Besides, Lok Pal wants the government to offer land to the foundation in phases to ensure the full educational use of the land. But the recent direction issued by the Union Ministry of Forest and Environment seems to be the toughest one for Vedanta as the environmental and Coastal Regulatory Zone clearance is imperative for the university to come up without future hindrances.
Given that the Foundation still has much at stake in Orissa – and not all this stake commercial – it would be highly pertinent for both the Ministry and the Foundation to get into a mode of resolving the issue rather than keeping it hanging, more so as a positive resolution of the issue would perchance provide Orissa with a university at global standards – something that Orissa direly needs to up its global investment image – and a negative resolution would free up the land for alternative use. Non-resolution of the issue could put a bad light on future investments into the state.
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