It has been argued by government officials that a key benefit in locating the project at this particular site is the proximity of the railway network. Raw materials for transport that are relevant to the production of cement include fly ash, which is generated by coal-power plants, and slag, a byproduct of smelting ores and metals.

Local people have a different point of view.

‘The benefit of easy transportation will accrue to the cement company alone and not to local communities,’ Jahangir said. ‘They will ultimately be displaced from their roots to escape the pollution.’

The Adani Group submitted an application with the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change (‘the ministry’) in April 2024 to set up a 6-million-tons-per-annum (MTPA) cement factory in Ramannapet village of Yadadri Bhuvanagiri. It informed the ministry that the proposed factory will cover an area of 26.70 hectares out of which 26.52 hectares is in the possession of the company. The remaining land, to the north of the project site, abuts an irrigation canal – the Wattimarthy Cheruvu Canal – and is at present in the possession of the Telangana government.

The Adani-owned company has told the ministry that there are numerous water bodies around the project site. In the environmental impact assessment (EIA) report, the company has listed at least 12 natural lakes of varying size within a 10-km radius of the project site.  Apart from the irrigation canal which runs along the northern boundary of the project site, the report also states that the Musi River, an important water source for the region, is at a distance of 7.8 kms.

Ambuja Cements Limited has said that the daily water requirement of the plant is 600 kilolitres, which will be met from a mix of sources including groundwater and surface water.

‘This is a water-guzzling industry,’ Mohammed Rihan, a local leader of the Congress party, told this correspondent. ‘Groundwater will soon get depleted, impacting farming and farm-dependent activities.

‘Local farmers completely opposed the project at the public hearing. Political parties across ideological lines have lent their support to local communities. A few weeks ago, officials of the company arrived at the site for some construction work but had to beat a hasty retreat after facing the anger of local people.’

Prior to the public hearing for the project, former members of Telangana’s legislative assembly, including Bhupal Reddy, Gadari Kishore Kumar and Chirumarthi Lingaiah, were placed under house arrest to prevent them from attending the meeting. These political leaders belong to the Bharat Rashtra Samithi, which is the principal Opposition political party in Telangana.

At present, Telangana is under a Congress regime headed by the state’s chief minister Revanth Reddy. Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the Opposition in the Indian Parliament in New Delhi, has been severely critical of the alleged business malpractices of Adani Group. Gandhi has opposed Adani’s coal mining projects in the Hasdeo Arand forests of Chhattisgarh while he has also been critical of the alleged crony capitalism between Gautam Adani and India’s prime minister Narendra Modi.

However, in Telangana, the Congress is alleged to have cosied up to the Adani Group after being elected to power. In January 2024, Reddy entered into as many as four agreements with the Adani Group on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos for an investment of Rs 12,500 crore (US $1.4 billion) in Telangana. The Opposition lambasted Reddy for allegedly accepting a donation of Rs 100 crore (US 11.5 million) from Gautam Adani for a university project, which he received personally on behalf of the government, just ahead of the public hearing for Ambuja’s proposed project in Yadadri. Notably, this donation was turned down by the Congress when US prosecutors alleged that Adani had bribed Indian officials to secure contracts for energy projects in other states of India.

The opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi is a regional political party which, at a state level, has been critical of Reddy’s dealings with Gautam Adani. Ironically, however, the party is an ally of Modi’s coalition government in New Delhi and allegedly enjoys close ties with the Adani Group at the national level.

Notwithstanding the political tug-of-war, sources present at the hearing on 23 October 2024 in Ramannapet village testify that local people from all around the area queued up at the venue in huge numbers to record their grievances against the proposed cement plant. The minutes of this public meeting, which involved officials from the local administration and the Adani company, amply illustrate the local opposition to the project.

M Ashok Reddy, the chief of a local farmers’ forum called Yadadri Bhuvanagiri Rythu Sangam, told the public hearing that small and marginal farming businesses that are entirely dependent on the irrigation canals will be the most affected by the plant’s pollution. Crops of cotton and rice are set to be significantly impacted, as well as ‘toddy tappers’, people who climb date palms to extract the sap of the tree's trunk for making palm wine.

K Malleswaram, the head of a local fish-workers’ co-operative society, told the hearing that the yields of fish in tanks and canals will decline if effluents are discharged into the water bodies.

There also exist a large number of communities involved in weaving and cattle rearing. It was alleged at the hearing that dust generated from the plant would settle on weavers’ spindles, while rearing of livestock may become difficult due to the particulate matter that may settle on the vegetation.

The bar association of local lawyers also opposed the project at the hearing because the district administration has allotted a plot of land – very close to the site where the cement plant is proposed – for construction of a court complex. It was alleged that a court cannot function smoothly in the vicinity of a polluting industry.

A demographic study carried out by the project proponent in the nearby villages of Vallanki, Tummalgudem, Dubbak, Shivanenigudem, Padda Kaparti and Nernamula as part of its environmental-impact assessment revealed that more than 33% of the population consists of communities that are dependent on minor forest resources for their livelihood. They collect leaves of the Sal tree for use in manufacturing eco-friendly food plates. They collect buds of the mahua flower, which is fermented to prepare a traditional heady liquor. The communities also collect kendu (leaves used for rolling beedis, traditional Indian cigar sticks), wood resins, honey and roots of different plants to be used as food or medicine.

A significant segment of the local population in the study area is engaged in farming or farm labour, while only a minor segment is in trading or small-business activities. It was also found through the study that the population of Dalits (Scheduled Castes) and Adivasis (Scheduled Tribes) in the area was almost 22.31% of the total population. These communities have traditionally belonged to the lower socio-economic strata of the Indian society.

Local people are concerned about the likely impact of the cement plant's emissions on the region's wide variety of vegetation. The EIA report says a total of 83 species of tree and eight species of shrubs and herbs have been recorded there. The most common species found in the area are Neem (Indian lilac), Shisham (Indian rosewood), Arandi (castor), Mango, Date Palm, the Ashok, Rock Peepal (Sacred Fig), Jamun (Java Plum), tamarind and Ber (Jujuba). However, the project proponent has submitted photographs to the ministry showing that only wild grass and thorny bushes are present within the exact limits of the project site.

Project-affected people have formed a community forum called Paryavarana Parirakshana Vedika – which literally translates to ‘environment protection forum’ – to safeguard the local ecology from the polluting effects of the proposed plant. The forum’s convener, Jallela Pentaiah, told this correspondent that, apart from the emissions of the proposed industry, large-scale transportation of raw materials, including fly ash, clinker and finished cement products, is expected to affect communities residing at even large distances from the project site.

‘More than a dozen villages occur within a 7-km radius of the site,’ said Pentaiah. ‘These villages will be affected. Farmlands and settlements along the route used for transporting fly ash and cement will be affected, too.

‘The project proponent is bent upon constructing the industry at this specific location. It will affect the local vegetation for miles around.’

For conservation of the environment, the company has promised to develop a green belt on 8.9 hectares of land (that is, 33.63% of the total project area). It has also decided to spend an up-front Rs 20.10 crore (US $2.3 million) in implementing an environmental management plan to keep pollution at bay. It says it will spend Rs. 4.80 crore (US $550,000) every following year implementing plan.

Out of the total land required for the project, 26.52 hectares are owned by a company called Blue Star Realtors Private Limited. The Adani Group acquired this company in December 2018. Ambuja Cements Limited entered into an agreement with Blue Star in October 2023 to set up a cement grinding unit on this land, as per documents submitted by it to the ministry.

The Adani Group has argued that the project will generate revenues for the central and state exchequer and bridge the demand-supply gap for cement in the market. The company estimates that as many as 180 people will be employed in the plant. It says the project will also reduce the prevailing unemployment in the area by generating direct and indirect jobs. It says the local economy will be boosted due to spending by the company and its employees, leading to improved standards of health and education.