By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR: Vedanta Group chief Anil Agarwal, who met Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday and later addressed a press meet in Bhubaneswar, faced some touch questions from journalist over his company mining activities and arrest of tribal people those who opposing it.
When Journalists asked the Vedanta chairman directly that even though it has been three years since the government gave the mining rights in the Sijimali area, why is the company still unable to mine? Why has the company entrusted the responsibility of mining to an outside company, Maitri, and this company is oppressing the tribals there?
Similarly, why can’t the village council sit for mining? Why has the Jharsuguda municipality imposed a fine of Rs 50 crore on the township built by Vedanta in Jharsuguda?
Anil Agarwal has no answer to it. before the Vedanta chairman could answer such a question, the employees of Vedanta and the event management agency present there protested in some way. They begged the questioner to leave and somehow took him out. They requested not to be questioned, saying that if they asked such a question, they would lose their jobs.
However, one thing has become clear from today’s press conference of Vedanta Chairman that some officials of the company are misleading Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal, who is interested in setting up an industry in Odisha. He is not giving real information regarding the Sijimali issue. The company is leaving everything in his hands instead of going to the field itself. If the company uses police to atrocities on the tribals, it blames the government. Even after three years of finding the mine, the road to the mine is not built. On the contrary, Vedanta is bringing bauxite from abroad and running the factory.
It has been noticed in today’s press conference that some of the company’s lads have arranged things to suit themselves. Due to which the real picture will not come to the attention of the Vedanta chairman. They have called some of their own known journalists. Those who are likely to ask questions have been excluded from the list. Even some senior journalists who came to the press conference today have been turned away saying that their names are not on the list.
When the chairman of Vedanta Anil Agarwal, said that setting up an aluminium industry in Odisha would create more jobs and employment and sought the help of the media for this, there is a debate about which boss of the company decided to hold a press conference in the capital and keep out many journalists. Now, discussions are in full swing as to whether Vedanta will set up a factory in Odisha while only inviting a few national media persons.
No one knows how much money Vedanta has spent on CSR while running such a large factory in Odisha. It is reported that Vedanta’s CSR activities are very insignificant compared to other companies in the state. That is why tribals do not cooperate with Vedanta’s projects.
Similarly, while the officials explained to Mr. Agarwal that Vedanta Township in Jharsuguda is world-class, it is reported that the Jharsuguda Municipality has imposed a fine of Rs. 50 crore on Vedanta for land encroachment. The company authorities are trying to suppress this news as much as they can.
While the Vedanta chairman, who has a deep affection for Odisha, is repeatedly coming to promote his aluminum factory, some dishonest officials of the company are not only misleading Mr. Agarwal, but are also becoming a major obstacle to the development of Odisha.
Recently, some new bauxite mines have been given on lease in Koraput, Rayagada and Kalahandi districts. The government was requested by conscious citizens not to give lease to these mines. They alleged that these mines are likely to destroy the natural resources of the state. On the said issue, Steel and Mines Minister B.B. Jena said that the complaints received are being investigated as per the law at the district and sectoral levels.
According to the minister, the Sijimali bauxite mine in Rayagada and Kalahandi and the Karnpo bauxite mine in Koraput have been awarded to Vedanta Limited. Similarly, the Kutrumali mine in Rayagada and Kalahandi and the Ballada bauxite mine in Koraput have been awarded to Adani Group company Kalinga Alumina Limited. The Karnpo mine was allotted in 2026 and the remaining three mines in 2023. All these four mines have not been operationalized, the minister said.
Earlier, there were six bauxite mines in the state. Five of them were in Koraput and one in Rayagada. In Koraput, the Maliparbat mine allotted to Hindalco Industries and the Pattangi mine allotted to NALCO are not operational. Two mines of NALCO in Koraput, Panchapattami (South) and Panchapattami (North), and OMC’s Co PF mine and Utkal Alumina Limited’s Bapahilmali bauxite mine in Rayagada are operational.
53% of iron ore goes outside the state: 77 million tons exported abroad in 5 years:Odisha is one of the leading iron ore producing states in the country. Despite having a large number of steel, pellet and sponge iron factories in the state, more than half of the iron ore produced is exported from the state. According to the data presented by Steel and Mines Minister Bibhuti Bhushan Jena in the Assembly, 53 percent of the iron ore has been exported from the state in the last five years. Of this, the lion’s share has gone to various states in the country and the remaining iron ore has been exported abroad. From 2023-24 to 2025-26, about 170 million tonnes of iron ore was produced annually, of which an average of more than 80 million tonnes was exported from the state every year.
According to Minister Shri Jena, 899.359 million tonnes of iron ore was produced in the state over a period of five years from 2021-22 to 2026-27. Out of which 422.432 million tonnes of iron ore was used within the state. The remaining 476.927 million tonnes of iron ore was exported from the state. Out of which 351.432 million tonnes went to various states of the country and the remaining 77.651 million tonnes was exported abroad. During these five years, 39.07 percent of the total iron ore produced in the state was exported from the state and 8.63 percent of the iron ore was exported abroad.
