Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government cancelled the lease of 28.8 acres of land allotted to Vedanta Ltd in Panchapada village of Jharsuguda district on grounds of prolonged non-utilisation.

The land had been allotted to Vedanta Ltd by the Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco) in 2013. 

As per reports, the land was found lying vacant during an inspection. The company had only constructed a boundary wall on the land. The Vedanta Ltd had reportedly secured a credit facility by mortgaging the leased property.

 The Idco cancelled the lease of the government land to Vedanta through an order issued on October 27, reports added.

As per the existing norms, industrial land lying unused for three years is liable to be reclaimed by the state government.

The Vedanta Ltd, meanwhile, stated that the loans secured by mortgaging the land parcel had been duly repaid. "The company has shown its interest in utilising the land for community-oriented public infrastructure such as healthcare facility. Our officials are holding discussions in this regard with the Idco," said a spokesperson of Vedanta.

The Idco reportedly cancelled the land allotment following an inspection conducted by the Accountant General (Audit-I), Odisha, in April last year.

Subsequent verifications by senior officials of Idco also established that the land parcel was lying vacant, reports said.

The Idco had issued a show-cause notice to Vedanta on April 9 seeking an explanation for the non-utilisation of the land before issuing the cancellation order.

In its reply, the company argued that the land parcel was proposed to be used for future expansion, ancillary facilities, welfare facilities and healthcare-related development.