Raipur, Oct 08: Chhattisgarh Government on Sunday said
the cases against the Balco would not be withdrawn and advised
the Vedanta Group to avoid a "head-on collision" with the
State Government.
On many issues, including encroachment of government
land, the state government had issued notices to Balco, but
the Vedanta-led company had gone to the high court, top state
officials told mediapersons here.
During a meeting between Revenue Minister Brij Mohan
Agrawal and Vedanta chairman Anil Agrawal, the minister had
advised him to settle the issue instead of preferring a
confrontation with the state, as the government would not
withdraw cases against Balco, they said.
Balco was accused of grabbing 1,034 acres of lands
illegally and it was also accused of not paying royalty to the
tune of Rs eight crore, for which some of its properties were
attached recently.
Chief Minister Raman Singh also told reporters that
there was no question of withdrawal of any cases against
Balco.
If Balco had gone to the court, the court will decide
and there is no question of any withdrawal of cases against
the company, Singh said replying to a question on the issue.
Agrawal after signing of an MoU last night hinted
that they could go for out of court settlement if the state
government came forward.
"Currently, it is in the court so I do not want to
discuss the matter but if the state government wants we are
ready for an out of court settlement of the issue," he said.
Bureau Report
