In yet another gust to the Anil Agarwal, the owner of Vedanta Alumina Ltd, the environment ministry has resolute to stop the progress of the company’s plans of expanding its Rs 4,600-crore Lanjigarh refinery in Orissa.

However the presented one million tonne Lanjigarh refinery will continue to be in operation.

The ministry has found the Lanjigarh refinery’s development to be “unauthorized” and in serious desecration of environmental laws.

It has decided to repeal the permission given to the company to study the environmental impact of increasing the capacity of the plant from the current one million tonne per annum to six million tonne. This week it is expected that a formal order to this effect.

The ministry had concerned a show cause notice on August 31 for the unauthorized expansion of the refinery.

The existing one million tonne refinery, which had been given environmental clearance in September 2004, too had been issued a show cause for not meeting the terms with the conditions of the clearance. The ministry is of the view that the violations have been “procedural”, and it can be corrected.