BNB Land Consultancy was engaged by Vedanta Limited, a global leader in the natural resources sector, to facilitate the entire land securing process for the strategic Sijimali Bauxite Block across Rayagada and Kalahandi districts. Executed between 2023 and 2024, this project required the meticulous management of dual tracks: the acquisition of private land and the alienation of government land. Our role was to navigate the complex regulatory environment of the RFCTLARR Act, 2013, and state protocols to deliver a seamless transfer of land, enabling Vedanta’s critical mining operations.
Assignment Details:
Our assignment encompassed the full spectrum of land-related activities, managed through two parallel and integrated workstreams. For the private land acquisition, we managed the complete statutory lifecycle under the RFCTLARR Act. This involved preparing the definitive Land Schedule for the Mining Lease area, submitting the formal application in Form-A, and filing the land acquisition requisition with the Collector through IDCO. We then steered the process through all critical stages, including the release of the SIA notification under Section 4(1), the facilitation of Public Hearings and Grama Sabhas in each affected village and at the district level, and the publication of subsequent notifications under Sections 8(2) and 11(1). The process culminated in the finalization of the R&R award, the declaration of acquisition under Section 19(1), the oversight of compensation payments, and the crucial steps of lease sanction and physical possession transfer. Concurrently, for the government land alienation, our scope included preparing the land schedule, applying for alienation, securing administrative acceptances and recommendations, obtaining mandatory Grama Sabha consent, and finalizing the sanction from the Collector to achieve the legal transfer and physical possession of the land.
Project Objectives:
The primary objectives of this project were to secure the entire Mining Lease area for the Sijimali Bauxite Block by successfully concluding both the land acquisition and alienation processes within the defined timeline. This required ensuring 100% compliance with the RFCTLARR Act, 2013, and all associated state regulations at every step. A fundamental goal was to foster community trust and social license through transparent and inclusive stakeholder engagement, demonstrated via successfully conducted Public Hearings and Grama Sabhas. Ultimately, our focus was on the timely finalization and disbursement of the R&R award and compensation, leading to the successful transfer of physical possession to empower Vedanta’s project development.
