The project has been opposed by environmentalists since it seeks to pull down 1200 acres of old sal forests[1] for a coal mine.
[2] At least 500,000 prime sal trees would be chopped, and 54 villages[3] with a considerable tribal population would be displaced.
[5] Mahan Coal Ltd is a Rs 5,000-crore joint venture between Essar Energy and the Aditya Birla Group (Hindalco).
However, in 2014, the coal block land was deallocated by the Supreme Court[8] resulting in sharp drops in the company's stocks.
[10] In January 2015, Priya Pillai, a Greenpeace campaigner, who was very active in Mahan, was offloaded from a flight while she was to meet some British MPs inquiring into the matter.