NEW DELHI: Vedanta's share price closed nearly 13% lower on Monday after the company put on sale its copper plant in Tamil Nadu. During the day, it had plummeted about 15% intraday to touch a new 52-week low of Rs 221.70.
The share closed the Monday session at Rs 230.25 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and its market capitalisation came down to about Rs 85500 crore.
The Anil Agarwal-promoted Vedanta had invited Expression of Interest (EoI) earlier in the day for its highly controversial Tuticorin-based smelter, which has been shut since mid-2018, following the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board's order over environmental concerns.
In an advertisement in the newspaper Vedanta in conjunction with Axis Capital invited an Expression of Interest (EOI) for "sale of the state-of-art smelter and refining complex situated at Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu."
The last day to submit the EOI is July 4.
"The Tuticorin plant is a national asset which has been catering to 40% of our national demand of copper and has played an integral role towards India’s self-sufficiency in copper. In the best interest of country and the people of Tamil Nadu, we are exploring options to make sure that the plant and the assets are best utilized to meet growing demand of the nation," the company said in a statement.
The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 440.75 on April 11, 2022 and since then nearly half of its value has eroded. The scrip at present is trading lower than the 50-day, 100-day and 200-day moving averages.
The Tamil Nadu government had last year allowed Vedanta's sealed Sterlite copper plant in Thoothukudi to operate for the production of medical oxygen in view of the depleting oxygen reserves amid the massive spread of the COVID-19 cases.
While granting the permission, the state government had asked the Sterlite plant not to be involved in the production of copper or any other material.
The Tamil Nadu government had ordered the state pollution control board to seal and "permanently" close the Vedanta Group's copper plant in Tuticorin after violent protests that saw 13 people killed in police firing.
(With PTI inputs)