Nairobi, Sept. 6 -- A bitter dispute between Tata Chemicals Magadi Ltd and the Kenyan government has put a Sh3.62 billion expansion of the soda ash plant in doubt, threatening an investment that aimed to more than triple annual production.

The project, announced in October 2024, was expected to raise soda ash output to one million tonnes from about 300,000 tonnes, while adding a 10-megawatt solar plant and upgrading processing, storage and railway infrastructure.

Construction was scheduled to start in the third quarter of 2025, with the expanded plant expected to be operational by mid-2027.

Instead, less than two years after the investment was announced, Tata is fighting a government shutdown of its mining operations, a Sh17.45 billion...