India's environment ministry today ordered Vedanta Resources, the London-based mining company, to halt all construction work aimed at expanding its aluminium refinery in the state of Orissa in the east of the country.
It comes two months after the ministry denied Vedanta permission to mine bauxite in Orissa's Niyamgiri Hills, an area deemed sacred to an indigenous tribe.
Campaigners have accused Vedanta of human rights violations in the region, but the company has denied the allegations.
Last month, Jairam Ramesh, India's environment minister, threatened to cancel approval for expansion of Vedanta's Lanjigarh aluminium refinery that would have used bauxite from the nearby Niyamgiri Hills, had the project been approved.
Today, Ramesh said Vedanta had started work to expand the refinery's capacity to 6m tonnes a year without obtaining the required environmental clearances. The ministry asked the Orissa government to take legal action against Vedanta. The company was unavailable for comment.
Vedanta is among several multinationals, including South Korea's Posco, whose Indian projects face delays as a proactive environment ministry tightens rules that often bring it into conflict with other government ministries pushing for rapid industrialisation.