BATTLEGROUND FARMLAND Bs Reporter / New Delhi September 04, 2008, 1:03 IST The Anil Agarwal-owned Vedanta group has made substantial headway in land acquisition for its three projects in Orissa which entail a combined investment of over Rs 30,000 crore. The group needed 11,700 acres for its university at Puri, an alumina refinery at Lanjigarh, and its smelter and power project at Bharkhamunda near Jharsuguda. It has already acquired about 7,515 acres. The total land needed for the Rs 15,000-crore university is 6,000 acres. The company has to date acquired 3,155 acres and taken possession of 2256.49 acres, which includes 385.15 acres of government land and 1871.34 acres of private land. Though the company claims to have acquired more than 50 per cent of the land needed, local resistance continues to obstruct the start of the project. The company is, however, in a better position as far as land acquisition for its other two projects are concerned. Vedanta Aluminium has acquired the 2,000 acres it needed in Lanjigarh in the economically-backward Kalahandi district for its one-million-tonne-per-annum (MTPA), Rs 4,000-crore alumina refinery. Besides, it has got 80 per cent of the 200 acres needed for a rail corridor for the project.