Anil Agarwal says Vedanta University was originally planned for Gujarat; It gets environment ministry clearance for its Puri location
August 13th, 2009
Following is an excerpt from a report in DeshGujarat.
India’s largest university proposed by Vedanta Resources founder Anil Agarwal is coming up in Orissa, but it was originally planned for Gujarat.
… When asked about his plans to enter Gujarat, if any, Agarwal said, “Gujarat is the most developed. Its amazing how business going on here. While everybody is talking about business in energy, we thought of setting up old time Vaghas based power plant. But I haven’t figured it out. I wanted to set up a university here but then we went to Puri(Orissa). But I will be looking forward for something to start in Gujarat, that’s sure. We have something in silvassa but not in Gujarat.”
This sounds to me like a veiled warning from Mr. Agarwal to people of Orissa. I think he is preparing the ground to move to Gujarat if things get tough in Orissa. If that happens, that would be the missed opportunity of the millenium for Orissa. By saying it was planned for Orissa, he will have a ready made excuse to move to Gujarat.
On another front, Vedanta University received clearance from the environment ministry. Following is an excerpt from a PTI report on this.
A committee of the Environment Ministry has given the green signal to the Vedanta Group to set up its university in over 6,000 acres of land on the Puri-Konark Marine Drive in Orissa, notwithstanding protests from locals and activists.
Entry Filed under: Bhubaneswar-Cuttack-Puri- Khurda area (1),Vedanta University, Puri
4 Writeup
1. R.K. Ghosh | August 13th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
I am bit puzzled to learn that Vedanta group needs 6000 acres of land on Pui-Konark Marine Drive. Was this huge land acquisition plan ever vetted by an independent body?. I guess the area requirement would be close to that of a mid sized town in Orissa. IIT in contrast wanted just about 900 acres of land, and the govt was unable to find a convenient location for long time.
Sounding warning is an art perfected by Industrialists in India ever since TATAs relocated Singur Nano plant to Gujrat. Vijay Mallya and Naresh Goyal wanted bell out because they can not run their business well, and threatened to stop operations.
I think there is a case for seriously understanding the land acquisition plan for Vedanta on a stretch of very fertile belt in Orissa. That apart, the area has a great potential for development of tourism considering its picturesque settings with sea on one side and lands dotting with ancient temples providing fantastic exhibition of Orissan art and culture of the ancient times. So, I could understand why many in Orissa think this land acquisition plan has something more than what meets the eyes. If the doubts are dispelled early enough the project can have a smooth run.
2. Chitta Baral | August 13th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
I explained my understanding of the need for 6000 acres in the article at http://www.orissalinks.com/archives/1696 . The land use includes townships which I expect would contribute to the coffers of the university making it viable to compete internationally.
I will post a page from the Vedanta University master plan which shows the land use plan. The plan about townships is not something hidden, but clearly mentioned in the Vedanta University web page http://vedanta.edu.in/ .
I do not have first hand info on the fertility of the land, but am told from people living there that it is sandy low land and not very fertile. It is indeed a good location, though not on the sea side of the marine drive.
Finally, Vedanta Univ has acquired 3700 acres of the needed 6000 acres but the opposers don’t want them to start building the hospital /medical-college in the land they have already bought.
3. Umesh | August 13th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
There can be innumerable arguments to oppose a project. But, the balance requires us to understand the overall benefits of this project. Will this help the state in toto?
a) The previous article states that if the University is not formed then land will be returned to the people who are displaced. Now, with such a clause,why, should the land use pattern be a problem. Every university needs resources. Mebbe they will use the land to generate that.
b) The fertility is a not at all a question. This piece of land is close to the sea. Before the project was announced, land was being sold at 10,000 – 25,000 INR per acre. vedanta has offered these people about 1.5 lakhs – 2 lakhs per acre. If the land is sold at 10,000 -15,000 /acre this implies that they would not earn more than 3,000 INR per year.
c) What people seem to forget is that, this university is not about Orissa, but, the whole of eastern India. The educatiobnal value will be huge if this comes about. As Singur would have benefited an Oriya person, due to employment. So would this university have a ripple effect on complete eastern coast oif not the complete country.
It is a well-known fact that eastern india is among the poorer areas in the country. This university could work as a ripple effect for the complete region.
Lastly, but, most important, the blowing of this issue is as political as it gets. Mamta Bannerjee opposed singur since, the Ruling party supported it. Today, in the case of Vedanta the complete opposition is because one ruling party person is supporting the university the rest of the group have hanged up to oppose him.
Incidentally, the prime opposer of this movement has changed parties from Congress to BJP before the elections.
What I dont understand is that, why don’t they allow the hospital to be constructed? Isn’t this anti-people?
4. stingidea | August 14th, 2009 at 4:25 am
I concur with what Umesh says in the comments section. It is high time Oriyas start thinking in terms of the benefits that will accrue to the state, by which I do not mean that we become regionalistic but we need to be more positive especially considering the fact that we are one of India’s poorest states. For too long nobody has even looked at this piece of land near Puri and when somebody wants to create something out of it we begin opposing it. Conspiracy theorists abound but have we ever suggested an alternative that is better than the curent one? Union minister Srikanta Jena says Anir Agarwal’s plan is to mine the area for precious metals but this appears quite ludicrous. It is almost like suggesting that Anil Agarwal is going to pull a fast one on the Oriya people and the Indian people a la PC Sorkar!
Sure politicians fund parties that are in power. It happens everywhere in the world. They also pay money to silence their critics and I think a lot of politicians, whether in the case of Posco or Vedanta are looking at this financial pie. Then of course there are some genune activists who are often caught in the crossfire.
Digressions apart the people of Orissa need to be more positive about industrialization and modernization. Orissa has one of the most progressive chief minister’s of this country, at least the most progressive the state has seen in a long time and it is the responsibility of the people to support him whole heartedly.