The Supreme Court’s judgement allowing limestone mining in Meghalaya by Lafarge Umiam Mining Private Ltd (LUMPL) has injected a fresh lease of life into Bangladesh-based Lafarge Surma Cement Ltd (LSCL). LSCL has been losing around $1 million every month since the project in Meghalaya was stalled.
LUMPL is a fully-owned subsidiary of LSCL, which operates a $250-million cement plant in Chhatak, Bangladesh. The plant is dependent on LUMPL limestone supplies from the East Khasi Hills district in Meghalaya. A senior LSCL spokesperson told Business Standard that after the Supreme Court verdict, the company is preparing to resume operations in Meghalaya “as soon as possible.”
“We welcome the decision of the Supreme Court, which allows us to mine at a quarry in Nongtrai, Meghalaya. We are awaiting the detailed judgment, so that we can resume our operations that were stalled in February 2010. The decision would also secure the livelihood of thousands of people on both sides of the border, who are directly or indirectly dependent on this project,” he said.
A section of villagers from Nongtrai village (where LUMPL’s mining project is based), along with a non-government organisation, the Shella Action Committee, had dragged LUMPL to the court in 2007. Though the Supreme Court had, in November 2007, permitted LUMPL to mine limestone in Meghalaya, in February 2010, after hearing a petition by 21 local tribals and the Shella Action Committee, the court had stayed the mining project.
The spokesperson said the stalled project in Meghalaya had hit the Lafarge Surma Cement's financials, as the company had lost around $1 million every month since April 2010.
He added though the court had allowed LSCL to use the already-mined materials on the site, since April 2010, clinker production at the cement plant was stopped due to the lack of raw materials. LSCL had then begun importing clinkers from other countries, including Malaysia and Indonesia, to maintain the cement production.
“All the petitions filed by the Shella Action Committee have been dismissed by the court. We are grateful to the government of India, the government of Bangladesh, the state government of Meghalaya and the local people in Meghalaya, who have fully supported us in the Supreme Court,” he said.
