A day after publishing a report containing multiple allegations against the Adani group, the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) has turned its attention to the Vedanta group. The report by OCCRP alleges that the Vedanta group, led by Anil Agarwal, orchestrated a "covert" lobbying effort aimed at diluting crucial environmental regulations during the Covid-19 pandemic.
It is further claimed in the report that these changes were greenlit by the Indian government without public consultation.
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The document cites an instance from January 2021, where Vedanta Group Chairman Anil Agarwal reportedly suggested to the then-environment minister, Prakash Javadekar, that India's swift economic rebound could be bolstered if mining companies were permitted to increase production by up to 50% without the need for additional environmental clearances.
OCCRP claims that it has analysed and obtained various documents and letters supporting its claim through freedom of information request.
“Apart from immediately boosting production and economic growth, this will generate huge revenue for the Government and create massive jobs,” Agarwal told the minister, recommending that the change could be made with 'a simple notification', stated the OCCRP report
OCCRP further added that two weeks after Aggarwal wrote to Javadekar, the head of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry lobby group wrote to the environment minister with a similar request. After this, Javadekar sent a letter directing the secretary of his ministry and the director general of forestry to “discuss [the] policy issue”.
Meanwhile in June Vedanta's CEO Sunil Duggal, wrote directly to PM Narendra Modi, arguing that he could “boost the economic engine immediately” by scrapping the current method of granting environmental approvals. As per the report, the PMO forwarded the letter to the environment secretary who was already at work to discuss the issue. However, the idea was held back as it faced internal opposition.
But in 2022, after a series of closed door meetings the government relaxed regulations to allow mining companies to increase production by up to 50% without needing to hold public hearings. Many industries consider this public hearings as the most onerous requirement of the environmental clearance process
The report also alleges that Vedanta's oil subsidiary, Cairn India, successfully pushed for the elimination of public hearings for exploratory drilling in oil blocks they secured in government auctions. The report mentioned that since then six of Cairn’s controversial oil projects in Rajasthan have been approved despite local opposition.