 "Sterlite, Thoothukudi")
The closure of the Vedanta group's Sterlite Copper smelter plant at Thoothukudi, 600 km from Tamil Nadu capital, would remove a third of domestic production, argues the company. It would also hit downstream copper industries, chemical industries and local businesses, said P Ramnath, chief executive of Sterlite Copper.
The facility, with capacity to produce around 400,000 tonnes a year of refined copper, was also exporting. It was ordered by the state government to be permanently shut down, in the wake of police firing on protesting villagers in the vicinity in May, killing 11. The protests were at pollution.
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