Bhubaneswar: In accordance with the order of the Supreme Court, the State Government has taken steps for return of the land acquired for establishment of an university to be set up by Vedanta Foundation, now called the Anil Agarwal Foundation, in Puri.
Speaking to media persons here, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari said that the modalities for return of the acquired land will be finalised in a day or two.
Stating that Vedanta had changed the name of the institution thrice, he said necessary formalities will be carried out for transfer of land accordingly. The name was changed from Sterlite Foundation to Vedanta Foundation and later named as Anil Agarwal Foundation, he pointed out.
The land will be returned to the original owners. Those who have already sold their land and got the money, will have to return the money back, Shri Pujari said, adding, the RoR will accordingly rectified.
It may be noted that Vedanta Ltd had signed an MoU with the Odisha Government to set up a world class university in Puri in July, 2006.
The state government had initiated land acquisition proceedings for the university between December 13, 2006 and August 21, 2007. In November 2010, the High Court quashed the acquisition and directed Vedanta to return the land to their owners. Later, the Supreme Court upheld the High Court’s order on April 12, 2023.
Anil Agarwal Foundation submitted that it was ready to confine the acquisition to 3,837 acre only instead of 15,000 acre as initially proposed.
However, the apex court held that agricultural land belonging to 6,000 families was proposed to be acquired. As the land was their only source of livelihood, it could not be compensated in terms of money, and therefore, the proposal has to be rejected.