Puri: Amid growing uncertainty over the proposed Vedanta University due to prolonged legal battle over land acquisition, the state government Saturday hinted at measures to retain the mega project.
While the fate of the 15,000 crore mega project of Anil Agarwal Foundation (AAF) is sealed in the apex court for long, there are reports that Andhra Pradesh is ready for a red carpet welcome for the mega project.
Revenue secretary held a meeting at the Secretariat Friday with the president of the project, former chief secretary Bijay Kumar Patnaik, Puri collector Arvind Agarwal and other senior officials. The officials discussed the status of the case in the SC and the reasons behind the delay in the hearing. The officials discussed measures to expedite the case and retain the project.
Notably, the Vedanta Foundation July 19, 2006 had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the state government to set up the university. Accordingly, the state government confirmed availability of 8,000 acres of contiguous land and made notifications to acquire of 6137.90 acre land covering 18 villages along Puri-Konark marine drive. The state government has so far acquired 4004.48 acre land and handed it over to the Vedanta Foundation, which has paid Rs 41.96 crore for the purpose.
Meanwhile, a public interest litigation was filed in the High Court in 2007 terming the land acquisition illegal. The petitioner had stated that the AAF is a private limited company which was earlier known as Sterlite Foundation and subsequently changed to Vedanta Foundation. Adjudicating the PIL November 16, 2010, a division bench of Chief Justice V Gopala Gowda and Justice BP Das quashed the land acquisition procedures for the Vedanta University and directed the foundation to return the acquired land to its owners. In December 2010, Vedanta Foundation filed a special leave petition (SPL) in the Supreme Court challenging the verdict of the Orissa High Court. The apex court in 2012 ordered status quo on the land acquisition.
Meanwhile, the foundation appointed former chief secretary BK Patnaik to revive the mega project. There are reports that AP CM Chandrababu Naidu held discussions with the Vedanta Foundation and invited the group to set up the project there.
When contacted, Arvind Agarwal said, “The case is pending in Supreme Court. Currently, there are no activities of the foundation going on in the district. However, there is a Vedanta section in the district office. In 2013, Vedanta had written to us to return Rs 3 crore which was as contingency fund. However, we are yet to return the money.”
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