The government of Orissa is planning to ink a fresh MoU with Sesa Sterlite, after the merger of Vedanta Aluminium (VAL) with the latter.

The move comes after the Orissa Law Department advised the Department of Industries, Orissa, to substitute the earlier MoU with a fresh one.

A draft MoU will be prepared which is to be signed by the Department of Industries, Orissa and Sesa Sterlite, by substituting the earlier MoU signed by the department and Vedanta Aluminium, in the wake of the amalgamation of Vedanta Aluminium with Sesa Sterlite.

The key feature of the fresh MoU will be the provision of raw material guarantee, as the state government has taken a policy initiative of not offering the natural resources to metal and power companies in the new MoUs.

In the earlier MoU, the state government had committed to providing bauxite to Vedanta from the Niyamgiri mine of Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC). However, the company could not source the raw material from Niyamgiri due to stiff protest from tribals residing in the area.