Vedanta Project in Odisha Halted Over Tribal Rights Violation Claims

Vedanta Mining Faces Scrutiny in Odisha

Billionaire businessman Anil Agarwal’s London-headquartered company, Vedanta Limited, has allegedly trampled upon the rights of Adivasi communities for its first bauxite mine in Odisha. On 30 July 2025, the Union government halted – albeit temporarily – Vedanta’s plan to clear a vast forestland in Odisha after evidence surfaced that consent from Adivasis and other communities dependent on these forests may have been fraudulently obtained.

Vedanta has sought clearance from the Union government to clear 708.20 hectares of forestland for its 9 million tons per annum (MTPA) Sijimali bauxite mining project, which is spread across Kalahandi and Rayagada districts. An application to divert the forestland was filed with the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change (“the ministry”) in April 2025. It is mandatory, however, to obtain prior consent of local communities who are dependent on these forests for their livelihoods before granting the clearance. This consent is obtained through Gram Sabhas (village councils comprising all adult members) under the provisions of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 – known popularly as the Forest Rights Act, 2006. Local communities allege resolutions stating their consent were forged in Gram Sabha meetings purportedly held on 8 December 2023.

Fake Consent Got, Records Fabricated, Villagers to The Probe

Serious allegations of fraud have been levelled by residents of the 10 villages where Gram Sabha meetings were held. They claim their consent for forestland diversion was deliberately manipulated and falsely recorded during the meetings. They have asserted that no legitimate consultations took place and have further accused officials of fabricating records to push forward the controversial project, bypassing community participation.

“Groups of outsiders from a village called Palasaguda in Kashipur block of Rayagada district were ferried to the Gram Sabha meetings. They were photographed and depicted in the documents as legitimate residents of the project-affected villages. Is it feasible to simultaneously conduct Gram Sabha meetings across 10 villages in Rayagada and Kalahandi districts on a single day, as claimed by the project proponent?” said Subha Sing Majhi, who heads a local organisation committed to the protection of land and natural resources of the region.

Majhi further claimed that signatures of local people on official documents containing the proceedings of the Gram Sabha meetings were forged.

“In several instances, we noticed that signatures have been issued against names of people who have died several years ago. In other instances, thumb impressions have been issued against names of young men who are studying in colleges and universities,” Majhi told this correspondent.

Based on an order of the Odisha High Court – where local communities had alleged that their consent was faked – the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC), an apex advisory body under the ministry, put brakes on Vedanta’s proposal for forest clearance. The minutes of the meeting held on 30 July 2025 state Odisha’s BJP government, headed by Chief Minister Mohan Majhi, has been recommended by FAC to ensure strict compliance with the High Court order. The FAC has also sought a report from the Odisha government on this matter.

On 5 March 2025, a division bench of the High Court ordered the Union government to consider claims of local communities over forest rights before approving Vedanta Group’s plan to divert forestland.

“The submission is recorded for being noted by the Union of India in dealing with the proposal made by the user agency [Vedanta Limited], upon taking into confidence inhabitants of concerned villages, through the Gram Sabhas and otherwise. Petitioners have pointed out their rights under the Act of 2006 as provided under section 3 [right to live in forest land, community rights, rights over minor forest produce, etc.]. We reiterate, Union of India must take note,” said the bench comprising acting Chief Justice Arindam Sinha and Justice MS Sahoo while disposing of the writ petition.

Vedanta Claims Minimal Impact, Tribals Disagree

Vedanta has claimed that tree-felling for the project will be minimal because vegetation in the forestland sought for clearance is sparse. The vegetation comprises Sal trees mostly, apart from a few other species. As per Vedanta’s application, the area also has the presence of certain “wildlife species like barking deer, wild boar, monkey, Indian peacock, and Indian hare.”

The company has further claimed that the mining project will be beneficial for local communities in terms of employment generation. The project is important for the company because it is aimed at supplying as much as half of the total bauxite requirement for its existing alumina refinery in Lanjigarh in Rayagada. The Lanjigarh refinery has an environmental clearance to produce 6 MTPA of alumina. The refinery has been hanging fire ever since Vedanta’s ambitious plan to extract bauxite from the Niyamgiri Hills – also spread over Kalahandi and Rayagada districts – was stalled by Gram Sabha resolutions following a landmark verdict of the Supreme Court in April 2013.

“Local communities of ten villages to be affected by the Sijimali project told the High Court that they never provided consent for clearing the forest land. They also alleged that fake Gram Sabha resolutions were produced for seeking the clearance,” counsel for the petitioners, Ishwar Mohanty, told this correspondent.

In its application to the ministry, the project proponent had informed that consultations with Gram Sabhas of 10 villages of the project-affected area were held on 8 December 2023. These villages are, namely, Kantamal, Sagaban, Dumerpadar, Aligana, Chulbari, Tijimali, Pelanakona, Katibhata, Malipadar, and Bondel. The project proponent also informed that resolutions were passed in the Gram Sabha meetings in support of diverting the forest land for bauxite mining.

“The petitioners said the resolutions were fake. In fresh Gram Sabha consultations held later in these 10 villages, project-affected communities overwhelmingly voted against forest clearance. The court took cognizance of petitioners’ claims that provisions of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, endow them with rights over the forestland and that they cannot be alienated from the forests till their claims over these rights are settled,” added Mohanty.

It was argued through the writ petition that evicting local communities who depend on the Sijimali forestland would be illegal, as the formal process outlined in the Forest Rights Act, 2006, to verify and recognise their rights is still unfinished. Section 4(5) of the Act states that “no member of a forest-dwelling Scheduled Tribe or other traditional forest dweller shall be evicted or removed from forest land under his occupation till the recognition and verification procedure is complete.”

Vedanta Under Fire for Allegedly Violating Tribal Consent

Of the total forestland sought for diversion, 564.58 hectares is in Rayagada district, while the remaining 143.62 hectares is in Kalahandi. In both Kalahandi and Rayagada, official committees set up at the sub-division and district level under the Forest Rights Act, 2006, approved the outcome of the controversial Gram Sabhas held on December 8, 2023, despite allegations that the resolutions were fraudulent. Nevertheless, relying on the approvals of these committees, the district administrations of Kalahandi and Rayagada issued certificates on 18 and 24 January 2024, respectively, recommending leasing out of the forestland to Vedanta Limited.

In the last week of July 2024, complaints were lodged by project-affected communities in two local police stations – Rampur and Kashipur – seeking registration of First Information Reports (FIRs) against those responsible, including government officials, for allegedly “forging signatures of villagers” in the controversial Gram Sabha meetings.

Thereafter, between 30 August and 4 September 2024, residents from the 10 villages held fresh Gram Sabhas, where they rejected the purported resolutions that claimed they had consented for the mining project. They sent copies of the new resolutions, rejecting the proposal for forest land diversion, to the district administrations of Kalahandi and Rayagada.

Citing the resolutions of the fresh Gram Sabha meetings, local communities said in their writ petition that “diversion of forest land for mining activity will affect the religious and cultural rights of the villagers.” The writ petition further stated that the “deity of the villagers is Tijiraja, whose abode is Tijimali @ Sijimali, which is under the proposed mining lease area, and the villagers of these villages worship Tijiraja.”

The mining lease of the Sijimali block is spread over a massive area of 1,548.79 hectares across 18 villages in the tehsils (administrative blocks) of Thuamul Rampur and Kashipur in Kalahandi and Rayagada districts, respectively.

Owing to the preponderance of the population of tribal communities, Thuamul Rampur block of Kalahandi and the whole of Rayagada are classified as Schedule V areas. In accordance with the Constitution of India, special provisions are applicable in the administration and control of Schedule V areas to protect and safeguard rights of Adivasi communities. Prior consent of local communities, through consultations with Gram Sabhas, is mandatory before takeover of land and other natural resources, including forests and minerals, in accordance with the provisions of the landmark Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Area) Act, 1996 (known popularly as PESA Act, 1996).

Local communities have alleged their prior consent for the project was never obtained, which is a violation of the PESA Act.

In February 2023, former bureaucrat EAS Sarma had written to the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, a constitutional body meant to safeguard the rights of Adivasi communities, highlighting that no private mining can be allowed in the Sijimali lease area without prior consent of Gram Sabhas under the PESA Act, 1996, and the Forest Rights Act, 2006. The consent of Gram Sabhas, Sarma had further written, need to be supported by a resolution of the Odisha Tribal Advisory Council, a statutory body to advise the state government on matters pertaining to protection of interests of Adivasi communities. Sarma had also emphasised in the letter that the mining project’s feasibility must be evaluated in the light of the restrictive provisions of the Orissa Scheduled Areas Transfer of Immovable Property (By Scheduled Tribes) Regulation, 1956, which prohibits the transfer of land and minerals in Schedule V areas of the state to private entities.

Vedanta Pushes Ahead Despite Court and Community Resistance

Within the lease area, 129.09 hectares of land belongs to private individuals. Preliminary surveys indicate that as many as 100 families in two villages, viz., Malipadar in Rayagada district and Tijamali in Kalahandi district, will be displaced by the project. A Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R&R) plan is yet to be finalised for families facing displacement. In addition, surveys have also indicated that around 500 families are likely to be affected by the project, though they do not face imminent displacement. Experts have also pointed out the illegality involved in any private takeover of land belonging to Adivasi communities for extraction of mineral resources, citing the Supreme Court’s landmark Samatha verdict of July 1997, which declared such transfers null and void.

Shockingly, despite these red flags, the ministry has already handed out a set of terms of reference to Vedanta Limited to begin an environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the Sijimali project. On 14 August 2023, the ministry asked the project proponent to go ahead with the EIA to secure environmental clearance.

A public hearing for environmental clearance, which was held on 16 October 2023 in Rayagada, was termed highly controversial because local communities alleged police highhandedness and attempts by the project proponent to lure them away for deposing in favour of the mining project. Most attendees at the hearing expressed their opinion against the mining project. The second public hearing held in Kalahandi district on 18 October 2023 also witnessed widespread opposition to the project. The necessity to obtain prior consent of local communities through Gram Sabhas before leasing out the bauxite block to a private company was stressed in both hearings. Demands were also raised upon the Odisha government to settle the claims of rights of forest-dependent communities before diverting forestland.

Vedanta Limited has fast-tracked the process to obtain clearances for the mining project even as it is locked in a court battle over the ownership of the bauxite block. The Sijimali block, estimated to contain roughly 311 million tons of bauxite, was allotted to the Vedanta Group by Odisha’s erstwhile Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal government through a letter of intent (LoI) dated 1 March 2023. The LoI was issued following an open tender process in which Vedanta emerged as the preferred bidder.

The LoI was issued even though the mineral prospecting license in Sijimali was held earlier by another multibillion business conglomerate, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Limited, between 1992 and 1995. L&T was given the prospecting license for Sijimali – as also another nearby bauxite block, Kutrumali – more than three decades ago. Reportedly, the erstwhile Naveen Patnaik government had also recommended in May 2015 that mining leases of both blocks be given to L&T. However, the corporate entity failed to set up an end-use plant for the bauxite within the state itself.

On 2 March 2023, a day after Patnaik’s government issued the LoI to Vedanta, the Odisha High Court ruled that L&T was not entitled to the mining lease because it failed to set up an end-use plant within the state as per its terms and conditions with the government. The high court judgement was challenged by L&T in the Supreme Court of India, which has said that Odisha government’s lease agreement for Sijimali will be subject to its final verdict.

On 15 May 2023, a division bench of the apex court comprising Justice JK Maheshwari and Justice MM Sundresh said: “For grant of interim relief is concerned, it is suffice to direct that if any lease is granted or any agreement is executed, the same shall be subject to final outcome of the petition.”

The matter is still pending in the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, Odisha’s BJP state government has been at loggerheads with activists and those opposed to the bauxite mining project. On 4 June 2025, the administration of Rayagada issued an order barring 24 activists from entering the district for a period of two months, expressing concerns that simmering tensions against the bauxite project could be provoked. On 5 June, local police turned away several activists, including winner of the Right Livelihood Award Medha Patkar, from Rayagada, where they were scheduled to address a gathering of local communities.

The activists filed a petition against the prohibitory order of the district administration, wherein the single-judge bench of Justice Aditya Kumar Mohapatra at the Odisha High Court granted them interim relief on 3 July from any kind of coercive action by the state government. On 18 July, yet another single-judge bench of Justice SK Panigrahi, hearing upon a separate petition moved by medical professional Randell Sequeira, one among the activists barred from entering Rayagada for two months, quashed the prohibitory order, terming it as “unconstitutional.”

The high court said in its order: “A government confident in its legitimacy and support of law will engage with protesters, not banish them. The constitutional protection of dissent is not a mere idealistic slogan; it has been acknowledged by courts as essential to the democratic fabric of the nation.”

On 28 July, Justice Aditya Kumar Mohapatra’s bench revoked the prohibitory orders imposed upon the rest of the activists, saying that the matter was “already squarely covered” by the judgement issued in the case of Dr Sequeira.

Nevertheless, the Rayagada administration did not shy away from issuing yet another one-day prohibitory order upon seven activists, including Medha Patkar and Goldman Environment Prize awardee Prafulla Samantara, during Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Majhi’s visit to the district on 9 August on the occasion of World Indigenous Day.

A questionnaire was emailed by this correspondent to Vedanta, seeking, among other things, the company’s response to allegations that the resolutions of Gram Sabha meetings held on 8 December 2023 were fabricated. No response had been received at the time of publication. This article will be updated should Vedanta provide any reply.