Survival International, which campaigns for the rights of indigenous people, has written to the British ministry of business enterprise urging it to investigate whether Vedanta is in violation of guidelines set by the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

But Vedanta has said some of its shareholders are concerned about the campaigns of ActionAid and Survival International, and advised the two NGOs to drop their campaign.

'The Supreme Court, in its decision to approve the project has taken account of their views and the many benefits in terms of employment, education and healthcare, that the project will bring,' the company said in a statement.

'We are proceeding with the project on the basis agreed with them and we urge these NGOs to respect the decision of the legitimate authority in India, the world's largest democracy,' it added.

Meanwhile, actress Joanna Lumley said Tuesday: 'I urge the public to support the Dongria, who simply want to be allowed to live in peace. Unlike so many of India's rural poor, the Dongria Kondh actually live very well in the Nyamgiri hills, and it's a terrible irony that what Vedanta is proposing to do in the name of 'development' will actually destroy this completely self-sufficient people.'

Lumley, fresh from leading a high-profile campaign to allow Gurkha veterans of the British Army to live in Britain, is in Nepal celebrating the victory over the British government.

She is the latest celebrity to join the Nyamgiri campaign after human rights campaigner Bianca Jagger, writer Arundhati Roy and musician Nitin Sawhney.