Bhubaneswar, November 13: The Odisha government has announced plans to return around 3,500 acres of private land acquired for the proposed Vedanta University in Puri district to its original owners, informed Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari on Wednesday.
This decision follows a 2022 Supreme Court ruling that upheld the Orissa High Court's 2010 judgment, which declared the acquisition illegal on the grounds that the Anil Agarwal Foundation—a private entity—did not meet the public company requirements under the Companies Act of 1956.
The land, initially acquired during the tenure of former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government between 2006 and 2007, was intended for a educational project under Vedanta Limited.
Minister Pujari noted that the foundation had rebranded itself multiple times, from Sterlite Foundation to Vedanta Foundation and finally Anil Agarwal Foundation. Alongside the return of private land, approximately 509 acres of government-leased land will also be reclaimed.
The government is currently finalizing the logistics of the return process, which includes updating land records and arranging for compensated landowners to return the payments previously issued.
