New Delhi — An Indian court has halted land acquisition for an ambitious, $3.5-billion project to set up a huge private university in the eastern Indian state of Orissa, a newspaper reports.

The project, called Vedanta University, has been controversial from the start despite its having the blessings of the Orissa state government. The university’s backer, Anil Agarwal, is a metals-and-mining mogul whose company, Vedanta Resources, has made the 53-year-old industrialist a fortune of $3.8-billion.

Mr. Agarwal’s had announced an endowment of $1-billion for the university. The Orissa government was facilitating the acquisition of a total of 6,750 acres using India’s laws of eminent domain.

But the Orissa High Court — acting on a petition from residents of 18 villages comprising farms, homesteads, and pastures — issued a stay order. The state government has so far acquired only 700 acres for the project, the newspaper reports.

Mr. Agarwal envisages Vedanta as a world-class, American-style research university that will offer undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs. In 2023, when it is scheduled to be completed, Vedanta University is expected to house 100,000 students and 40,000 faculty and staff members. —Shailaja Neelakantan