Orissa High Court rejects Vedanta claim for bauxite at 2004 price

The Orissa High Court has dismissed Vedanta Aluminium Limited’s plea seeking 150 million tonnes of bauxite from the Odisha government at a price fixed under a 2004 agreement. A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Justice Murahari Sri Raman found no merit in the company’s writ petition. Vedanta had argued that the State’s earlier assurance of raw-material supply had led it to make substantial investments in alumina refineries and manufacturing plants.

Under the 2004 arrangement, the bauxite price was to be aligned with that paid by other manufacturers benefiting from captive mining operations. Vedanta said it would bear extraction costs, 50% royalty and other statutory dues. It alleged that Odisha later demanded higher prices and failed to supply the agreed quantity, causing major losses.

The company relied on the principle of promissory estoppel and asked the court to enforce the earlier terms. The Odisha government opposed the petition, arguing that it was delayed and that Vedanta had waived or abandoned any rights arising from the earlier agreements. Advocate General Pitambar Acharya told the court that the joint venture agreements had been terminated in 2015.

He said Vedanta had subsequently accepted the State’s Long Term Linkage regime and was receiving supplies under a 2023 agreement valid until 2028. The Bench said Vedanta had participated in processes under the amended Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act and had agreed in 2018 to receive bauxite under the later policy. It said the company had not challenged the 2015 termination, which had therefore attained finality.

The court held that Vedanta could not seek revival or indirect enforcement of the earlier agreements after such a lapse of time. A company spokesperson said Vedanta was evaluating the order and its legal options, while adding that the judgment did not affect its current bauxite supply.