VEDANTA

CASE
 VEDANTA
RESOURCES
 VEDANTA RESOURCES IS INDIA’S
LARGEST NON FERROUS METALS AND
MINING COMPANY BASED ON
REVENUES
 WITH ASSETS AND OPERATIONS IN
INDIA,ZAMBIA AND AUSTRALIA, IT IS
PRIMARILY ENGAGED IN
COPPER,ZINC,ALLUMINIUM AND IRON
ORE BUSINESSES.
 IT WAS FOUNDED IN
1976,BOMBAY,INDIA.
 IT HAS ITS HEADQUARTERS IN
LONDON,UNITED KINGDOM.
 RECENTLY, IT HAS VENTURED
INTO COMMERCIAL POWER
GENERATION BUSINESS.
 IT IS THE FIRST INDIAN
MANUFACTURING COMPANY TO BE
LISTED ON THE LONDON STOCK
EXCHANGE
 IT IS ON THE TRACK TO BECOME A
MILLION-TONNE PER ANNUM
PRODUCER AT LOWEST DECILE COSTS
IN ALUMINIUM COPPER AND ZINC BY
2010.
 IT HAS EXPERIENCED SIGNIFICANT
GROWTH IN RECENT YEARS THROUGH
VARIOUS EXPANSION PROJECTS FOR
COPPER,ZINC AND ALUMINIUM
BUSINESSES AND ACQUISITION OF
SESA GOA IN APRIL 2007,WHICH
ENABLED IT TO ENTER THE IRON ORE
BUSINESS.
 REVENUE FROM BUSINESSES
INCREASED FROM 3,701.8
MILLION DOLLARS IN FISCAL
2006 TO 7,930.5 MILLION
DOLLARS IN FISCAL
2010,REPRESENTING A
COMPOUND ANNUAL GROWTH
RATE OF 21%
 CRITICISM
ENVIRONMENTAL
DAMAGE
 Vedanta has been criticised by human rights
and activist groups, including
Survival International and
Amnesty International, due to their
operations in Niyamgiri Hills in Orissa, India
that are said to threaten the lives of the
Dongria Kondh that populate this region.
 The Niyamgiri hills are also claimed to be an
important wildlife habitat in Eastern Ghats of
India.
 In January 2009, thousands of
locals formed a human chain
around the hill in protest at the
plans to start bauxite mining in
the area.
 Vedanta's Alumina Refinery in Lanjigarh was
critiqued by the Orissa State Pollution Control
Board for air pollution and water pollution in
the area.
 According to Amnesty International, local
people reported dust from the plant settling
on clothes, crops and food. An environmental
impact assessment by the government found
dust pollution was within acceptable limits.
 An environmental inspection
of the plant reported water
pollution by the plant
including increasing the pH
value of the river
Vamshadhara below the
refinery.
 In October 2009 it was reported that the
British Government has criticised Vedanta
for its treatment of the Dongria Kondh
tribe in Orissa, India. The company
refused to co-operate with the British
Government and with an OECD
(Organisation for Economic Co-
operation and Development)
investigation.
 SAFETY
CONCERNS
 2007 Mining Deaths
 Unsafe mining operations led to
1,246 injuries and 26 deaths
involving own employees and
contractors.
 Balco, Korba, Chhattisgarh

 A chimney under construction by Gannon

Dunkerley & Company at the Balco
smelter in Korba, Chhattisgarh collapsed
on 23 September 2009 killing at least 40
workers. Balco and GDCL management
have been accused of negligence in the
incident.
LITIGATION
 In respect of bauxite mines at Lanjigarh, Orissa,
public interest litigations were filed in 2004 by
Indian non-government organisations led by the
Peoples Union for Civil Liberties to the Supreme
Court sub-committee regarding the potential
environmental impact of the mines. The Ministry
of Environment and Forests received reports
from expert organisations and has submitted its
recommendations to the Supreme Court.
 The sub-committee has found "blatant
violations" of environmental regulations
and grave concerns about the impact of
the Niyamgiri mine on both the
environment and the local tribal
population. The committee recommended
to the Court that mining in such an
ecologically sensitive area should not be
permitted.
CHAIRMAN’S
SAY
 Vedanta chairman Anil Agarwal rejected
allegations of maltreatment of locals. Agarwal
said that the mining project at Niyamgiri has
been approved by the Indian Supreme Court
based on a process that included consultation
with the locals carried out within the bounds of
the law, attesting that the majority of the locals
supported their industrial efforts.[An anonymous
official of Vedanta Resources blamed the NGO's
attacking Vedanta of being funded by competing
foreign mining corporations
HUMAN RIGHTS
 The NGO Amnesty International has also come
to criticize the company's record on human
rights.It has stated, “IT is clear that Vedanta
Resources and its subsidiaries have failed to
respect the human rights of the people of
Lanjigarh and the Niyamgiri Hills.

 " They add, "The proposed bauxite mine

threatens the survival of a protected Indigenous
community H
 A four-member panel set up by Government of
India in the Ministry of Environment and Forests
investigated the bauxite mining proposal over
Niyamgiri . The Committee submitted their
report on 16th August 2010, stating "The
Vedanta Company has consistently violated the
 Forest Conservation Act [FCA],
 the Forest Rights Act [FRA],
 the Environment Protection Act [EPA] and the
 Orissa Forest Act.
 LEGAL
VIOLATIONS
 In July 2010, Sterlite Industries, a subsidiary of
Vedanta Group was slapped a tax notice of
about Rs. 324 crore on the company, and
charged with violating several rules by the excise
department in India.

On 21st August 2010, the customs and excise
department charged Vedanta group's Tuticorin-
based Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd for evading
duty by mis-declaration of export consignment.