Approximately 3,342.53 acres of private land had been acquired and allocated to the Anil Agarwal Foundation to establish the university. However, following a recent Supreme Court decision that upheld the Orissa High Court's ruling to return these lands, the government is now initiating the process of identifying displaced landowners and returning their property.
The land will be re-registered in the names of original owners once they repay any compensation they received from the government at the time of acquisition. Those who did not receive compensation are not required to pay anything to reclaim their land.
Additionally, the government will restore any acquired government land to its original revenue records, minister Pujari confirmed during a press conference.
The land records, or Records of Right, will be updated upon the return of private lands. The process of returning land has already commenced, and an official notification on the matter is expected within the next few days.
The previous Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government, under Naveen Patnaik, had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Vedanta Group in 2006 to develop a “world-class university” in Puri. Over time, the proposed university’s name was changed three times. The MoU included the acquisition of both private land across 22 villages and government-owned land. However, nine landowners filed a legal challenge with the Orissa High Court, opposing the project.
In 2023, the High Court denounced the land acquisition process and ordered the return of the private lands. In response, the Vedanta Group appealed to the Supreme Court, seeking its intervention.
With this latest Supreme Court ruling, the Odisha government is taking steps to comply and restore ownership of the land to its original owners.
