With the news of Vedanta-owned Sterlite Copper exploring plans of reopening of the Tuticorin plant in Tamil Nadu and scrapping the decision to sell it off, lobbying has been intensified by downstream industries and other organisations, clamouring for resumption of the controversy-ridden factory.
In a full-page advertisement released in the media by Thoothukudi Industrial Suppliers Association, Thoothukudi Contractors Association, Thoothukudi Makkal Vazhvadhara Padhukaapu Sangam and Manuneethi Foundation titled ‘save our future, give back our livelihoods’, it was pointed out that lakhs of people are jobless and suffering due to shut down of the plant some five years ago.
The plant has given opportunities for many small businesses while the government has suffered huge revenue loss. “Our copper factory gave us livelihood for 22 years. National Green Tribunal has affirmed its environmental practices and 100s of hearings have happened and during Covid, the plant produced oxygen, saving thousands of lives,” it said.In a tweet, recently, Sterlite Copper said: “Sterlite Copper has a vision to be the world’s best sustainable green copper and nickel producer, delivering superior value to stakeholders by ensuring zero harm, carbon neutrality, water positivity, circular economy & fostering communities through a diverse & inclusive workforce.”
It will be a major task for the Vedanta to re-open the copper plant as the ball is in the SC court which is scheduled for a verdict on the issue next month.
The plant was shut by the Tamil Nadu government in May, 2018 following massive public outrage over the violence that broke out on the 100th day of the anti-Sterlite protests on the environment pollution issue, in which 13 protestors were killed in police firing. The families of the protestors who died in the anti-Sterlite police firing are still awaiting justice.
However, opinions are sharply divided over the re-opening of the plant. While one section has been actively trying to get the plant resumed, there are also groups that are fiercely opposing any such move. The representatives of the local fishermen community told FE that they have not heard about the plans of the company to re-open the plant. “ We will resist tooth and nail any such move”, they said.
Vedanta in June 2022 had decided to put on sale the Sterlite Copper plant four years after it witnessed 13 casualties in an alleged police firing and has been shut since mid-2018, following a Tamil Nadu government order.
After facing several legal and political hurdles in reopening the plant, owing to environmental issues, Vedanta posted an advertisement inviting EoIs for selling off the plant. The deadline for submitting EoI was July 4, 2022.
Inviting suitors, the company had also pointed out that the plant produces around 40% of India’s demand for copper and contributes around `2,500 crore to the exchequer, 12% of Tuticorin port’s revenue, 95% market share for sulphuric acid in Tamil Nadu, direct employment to 5, 000 people and another 25,000 indirectly through the value chain. The Sterlite Copper plant has an installed capacity of 4,00,000 MTPA of integrated copper smelter and refinery, with another 4,00,000 MTPA in expansion.
Vedanta claimed that the plant meets the highest standards of ESG and environment standards compared to global peers. The plant plays a vital role in meeting the growing domestic demand for copper and meeting India’s commitment to a green economy, it had said.
The plant closure was challenged by the company in Madras High Court. However, the court refused to allow the reopening of the plant. The case is now pending in Supreme Court. Having invested over ?3,000 crore in the plant, the company has lost ?4,000 crore since its shutdown.
Vedanta reopened the plant briefly in 2021 to supply oxygen to medical institutions when there was an acute shortage of oxygen amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the group has been denied the option to reopen the copper smelter plant.
In 2018, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) granted permission to reopen the plant, but the next year, the Supreme Court set aside the NGT order and directed the group to approach the Madras High Court for interim relief. But the HC dismissed the company’s plea to resume operations, and Sterlite went back to the SC.state will provide a 100% exemption on electricity tax for five years on power purchased from the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation, exemption on stamp duty and also subsidy on cost of land, among others.