The Maharashtra government gave its nod to the project in 2006 and an "emergency" land acquisition process was set in motion in the five villages of Madban, Niveli, Karel, Mithgavane and Varliwada.

The project needs 968 hectares of land in these five villages which have a total population of 4,000. There are 2,800 land owners and according to the state government's own initial deadline, this process had to be completed within two years of its launch in 2006/07.

"This is the first stay issued by the HC and may continue till further hearings. The authorities will have to maintain status quo and cannot go ahead with acquisition as of now," said Mahesh Londe, lawyer for the petitioners.

The land acquisition process has been running behind schedule as villagers launched a campaign last year to oppose the project and organised exhibitions about what they say is the damage caused by nuclear plants, held street rallies and door-to-door campaigns.

The state government's land acquisition officer, Mahesh Deshmukh, admitted that there was a delay and said the land could now be acquired until August 2010. "We have carried out the land survey and its valuation and have fixed the rate at which people will be compensated. We were in process of serving notices and begin acquisition, however due to the stay we will have to wait," he said.

Ranjeet Raj Kakde, Chief Public Information Officer at NPCIL, is confident that the court stay will not be a major obstacle to the project. "It's a priority project and an important one for the Central government and we will give our replies explaining that the site is not in a seismic zone and will not affect the environment," he told The Indian Express.