Sterlite Copper Closure

The Tamil Nadu govt closed the plant after 13 people were killed during a protest against environmental and public health impact of the Sterlite Copper unit

Closure of an industry, without specifying the violation in "clearer terms", affects the investment made in the company, the Supreme Court said on Thursday while hearing Vedanta group firm Sterlite Copper's plea against shutting down of its smelting plant in Tamil Nadu's Thoothukudi. While making it clear that a company has to comply with the existing laws and environmental norms, a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said authorities have to specify the violations for closing down an industry. Senior advocate C S Vaidyanathan, appearing for Tamil Nadu, clarified that the state has not closed down the copper plant but only denied it the consent to operate over environmental concerns. "A company cannot say that it will only comply with those provisions which are pointed out by the authorities. It has to comply with the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act or whatever law applicable. But when you close down an industry, you cannot say you violated unspecified ...

The urgency stemmed from more than 15,000 families losing their livelihood since the plant's closure. These also include the port workers, lorry drivers, contract labour workers and breadwinning women

The prolonged closure of its controversial Thoothukudi plant has had an unintended impact on the country's exports of the industrial metal

It said the order was only a knee-jerk reaction of the state to "appease" a section of public with vested interest

The continuing shut down of Sterlite Copper Plant in Thoothukudi, in Tamil Nadu, would impact around 2-3 per cent of Vedanta Group's profit. The company also said it is putting on hold the Plant-II construction till the time things settle down and the focus will be on restarting the Plant-I at Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu.The plant was shut down since March, initially as part of an yearly maintenance, and later due to the rejection of Consent to Operate (CTO) by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) and followed by the state Government's order to permanently close the facility. The government action came after the local population raised protest against the facility, which turned violent on May 22 claiming life of 11 people in a Police firing to an anti-Sterlite protest.While stating that false propaganda dominated over the truth about the company, P Ramnath, CEO of Sterlite Copper says that the Plant-II construction, which actually triggered the protest this, is kept on hold, ...