New Delhi The government is set to consider a proposal for a complete ban on private-public joint ventures (JVs) for developing mineral blocks allocated to state-run corporations and public sector undertakings under a special dispensation. The move would hit the plans of Adani Mining, Moser Baer, Vedanta, Monnet Ispat and the Jaypee Group, among others, in the minerals and metals business.

India's environmental and tribal activists have scored another victory over companies looking to start mining and related projects in the mineral-rich and densely forested regions of the country.

Late Friday, a green tribunal has struck down an environmental clearance granted to Jindal Steel & Power Ltd. to mine coal at Raigarh in the central state of Chhattisgarh, saying the tribal people living in the area weren't given a fair hearing before the government gave its go-ahead to the project.

Vedanta Aluminium's Lanjigarh project in Odisha may become another Kudankulam, as environment activists belonging to foreign non-Government organisations (NGO) have suddenly surfaced to show their concern.

Vedanta Aluminium's plan to expand its annual capacity from 1 million tonnes to 6 million tonnes has been halted due to environmental concerns. The company is now in the process of going for a fresh public hearing on the basis of new terms of reference.

The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the Centre on a petition demanding that the Government approval for the Cairn Energy-Vedanta Resources deal be declared invalid.

The court also issued notice to Cairn Energy, Vedanta Resources and ONGC in the Public Interest Litigation.

The PIL, filed by a lawyer Mr Arun Kumar Agrawal, had sought the court’s directions to order a CBI probe into the manner in which the Government has cleared the deal.

MoEF Nixes Co’s Bid To Get Niyamgiri Mines, Shelves Refinery Expansion
Environment and forests minister Jayanthi Natarajan nixed yet another attempt by Vedanta to get Niyamgiri bauxite mines in Odisha that Rahul Gandhi had stood up against, saving the Congress and its scion some blushes.

NEW DELHI: Environment and forests minister Jayanthi Natarajan nixed yet another attempt by Vedanta to get Niyamgiri bauxite mines in Odisha that Rahul Gandhi had stood up against, saving the Congress and its scion some blushes. On Tuesday, she ordered that the preliminary nod given by her ministry to the expansion of Vedanta's aluminium refinery, which the company had claimed would source 150 million tonnes of bauxite from Niyamgiri mines in Lanjigarh, be held in abeyance which effectively puts the project on hold.