Tata Chemicals Magadi MD Swaminathan Nagarajan and other board members during the launch of a 10 tons per hour electric calciner on July 22, 2025. [File, Standard]

The President William Ruto government has ordered the immediate suspension of all mining operations by Tata Chemicals Magadi Limited, Africa's largest soda ash producer, in a dramatic escalation of a long-running regulatory dispute that threatens 600 direct jobs and hundreds of contractors who depend on the century-old trona mining operation at Lake Magadi.

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