Sterlite's copper plant plans to restart on Monday

Sterlite's copper smelter plant in Tuticorin is expected to commence production from Monday. It may be noted the Supreme Court refused to stay the National Green Tribunal order permitting it to start operations.

 

A senior official from the company has confirmed the development and said inspection is going on now and the plant will commence production by tomorrow (Monday). The official, who dont want to be identified, said the process will begin from Sunday in the presence of the four green tribunal panel members.

 

It may be noted, the Supreme Court on June 10 refused to stay the Green Tribunal's order permitting Sterlite to restart the smelter. The green tribunal is to hear the case against Sterlite in July second week.

 

On March 30, Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) had ordered closure of the plant after preliminary investigation into the allegation of sulphur dioxide gas leak on March 23.

 

Sterlite Copper had appealed the National Green Tribunal-Southern Bench against the TNPCB order, but the case was shifted to the principal bench of National Green Tribunal (NGT), New Delhi.

 

The NGT had ordered the formation of an expert team to conduct investigation into the allegation in three phases and submit the final report in July.

 

Meanwhile, the NGT passed an interim stay on Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board order and ordered reopening of the plant in the presence of the expert team. The first phase of the inspection at the plant was completed.

 

While the plant's total capacity is 30,000 tonnes per month, the full capacity will be reached gradually, said the Official, he also added the new development also brings some hope for company's proposed Rs 3,000 crore expansion, which was delayed for almost two years now. If the project would have gone on stream as planned, the company would have clocked additional revenue to the tune of around Rs 18,000 crore per annum, said the official.

 

The Tuticorin plant of Sterlite caters to 45 % of country's copper requirement, has been facing frequent protest and legal battles, and have led the company to shut once in a while. The latest being since March 29th this year which will be the fifth closure. The closure came after the TNPCB issued an order alleging that the company violated its emission norm level releasing SO2.

 

The company was reporting a revenue loss of around Rs 50 crore and profit loss of Rs 1 crore a day due to closure of existing plant and delay in expansion. It may be noted Tuticorin plant contributes 30 % of Vedanta Group's revenue.

 

Earlier C Murugeswaran, head power business, Sterlite Copper said Tuticorin plant has been producing around 1,000 tonnes of copper every day, which now need to be imported, which will be as high as $1.4 billion.

 

Already, because of the shut down the sulphuric acid cost have gone to Rs 8,000-9,000 per metric tonne from Rs 2,000. Fertilizer and Detergent manufacturers are the two major customers for Sulphuric Acid, he noted.