Vedanta Revives Niyamgiri Push, Pledges INR 1 Lakh Cr in Odisha

Vedanta Group Chairman Anil Agarwal announced a INR 1 lakh crore investment drive in Odisha spanning aluminium, mining, refining and downstream manufacturing, after meeting Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on September 26. The group aims to advance the projects over the next two-and-a-half to three years, subject to land allocation and government clearances.

“Will make an investment of Rs 1 lakh crore. If this government keeps cooperating like this, the work will move forward,” Agarwal said, adding that implementation speed would depend on land allotment and regulatory clearances. Vedanta is looking to set up another refinery in Raigarh along with a smelter, while also expanding activities linked to bauxite mining and aluminium production. Agarwal also proposed expanding social infrastructure alongside the industrial investment, including a hospital for tribal communities, a digital university and a research-focused medical institution.

The plan adds to Vedanta existing footprint in the state. In March 2025, Odisha High-Level Clearance Authority approved two Vedanta projects in Rayagada district: a INR 50,537 crore, 6 million tonnes per annum alumina refinery and a INR 40,991 crore greenfield 1.2 million tonnes per annum aluminium smelter.

The renewed push includes reviving bauxite mining in the Niyamgiri hills, a project that has been dormant for over a decade after opposition from the Dongria Kondh tribal community, who previously rejected mining there through Gram Sabha resolutions. Following Agarwal’s announcement, tribal communities said they would continue to resist any mining attempt in the area, which they consider sacred.

The renewed Niyamgiri push also comes amid fresh resistance to Vedanta Sijimali bauxite project in the same Rayagada-Kalahandi belt. Vedanta’s alumina refinery at Lanjigarh, near the Niyamgiri hills, currently relies largely on imported bauxite, and the company has also secured mining interests in the Sijimali and Karlapat bauxite deposits in Odisha.