New Delhi, Aug 24 (IANS) Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh Tuesday formally rejected London-listed Vedanta's bauxite mining project in Orissa.

"The Saxena Committee report, recommendations from the FAC (Forest Advisory Committee) and legal opinion of the attorney general have been taken into consideration and on the basis of which the environment clearance has been withdrawn," Ramesh told reporters here.

The FAC of the ministry refused clearance to Vedanta in Niyamgiri forest, based on the Saxena Committee report.

The minister said that though in-principle approval was given for the project in 2008 by the Supreme Court, new issues came up in the Saxena Committee report.

An expert panel, headed by N.C. Saxena, recommended that Vedanta's proposal to mine the Niyamgiri hills should not be given final clearance as claims under the Forest Rights Act were not settled.

The state's ethnic tribals and NGOs were seeking that the project be scrapped, citing environmental and ecological concerns and felt that the culture of tribal groups such as the Dongria Kondhs and Kutia Kondhs would be destroyed.