Vedanta-owned Sterlite Copper, which has been facing a technical snag that paused the oxygen production at its Tuticorin plant, has said that an expert team from the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) was at the unit to support the ongoing efforts and collaborate with the technical team to resume the production.
In an update, Sterlite Copper said the Isro team has suggested some measures to help rectify the production snag. “This has helped fast-track the repair process for which we are thankful to the local administration who was instrumental in facilitating this co-operative effort to recommence our oxygen production,” the company said.
Sterlite Copper which has recently commenced production of medical oxygen at its facility at Tuticorin, on Friday said that a technical snag had developed in the cold box of its oxygen plant leading to a temporary pause in production. The facility began production of medical oxygen and the first set of medical oxygen tankers was dispatched to the beneficiaries on Thursday from the plant.
The Supreme Court had in April last week allowed Vedanta to operate its closed plant to produce only the medical oxygen at Tuticorin while asking the state government to form a panel, including the district collector and the Tuticorin superintendent of police, to monitor activities at Vedanta’s plant.
Before the SC order, an all-party meeting convened by the then Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami had unanimously decided to allow the Sterlite Copper plant re-open to produce oxygen, with riders, amidst the looming oxygen crisis across the country triggered by Covid-19 second wave.
The controversy-hit unit was halted in 2018 amid protests by locals over environmental pollution and the consequent tragic death of 13 protesters who died as a result of police firing.