Vedanta Group puts Sterlite Copper plant in TN on sale

Says ‘national asset’ meets 40% of India’s copper demand
file pict ure
file pict ure

THOOTHUKUDI: Vedanta Group has invited bids for the sale of its copper smelting plant at Thoothukudi, Sterlite Copper, which has been entangled in various legal and political issues in Tamil Nadu. However, the copper major’s sudden decision to sell the entire plant has evoked confusion and mixed responses.

In conjunction with the Axis Capital, Vedanta invited Expression of Interest (EoI) from financially competent parties to buy the unit encapsulated with smelter complex (primary and secondary), sulphuric acid plant, copper refinery, continuous copper rod plant, phosphoric acid plant, caprice power plant, oxygen generation unit and residential complex with amenities, along with an expansion project of 4,00,000 Metric Tonnes Per Annum (MTPA), on or before July 4, 2022.

“The Thoothukudi (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,” Vedanta said in its official statement. It said the copper smelter contributes Rs 2,500 crore to the government exchequer and 95% of market share in sulphuric acid in TN.

“In the best interest of the country and the people of Tamil Nadu, we are exploring options to make sure the plant and the assets are best utilised to meet growing copper demand of the nation,” the statement added. A senior official from TN’s Industries Department told TNIE the matter is sub-judice and refused to comment.

Speaking to TNIE, Thoothukudi Member of Parliament Kanimozhi Karunanidhi said the State government is of the view not to open any such hazardous industries polluting the environment. “TN government stands firm against reopening the plant,” she said, adding the legality of the sale of a plant entangled in litigation is yet to be explored.

She said Vedanta’s decision to sell the plant was not communicated to the State government. Sterlite Copper, functioning in the Thoothukudi SIPCOT premises since its inception in 1996, had grown to become one of the leading copper producers in the country, and multiplied its operating capacity to 4,00,000 MTPA.

‘Who’ll buy plant with huge liability?’

Vedanta shifted its plan to establish the copper smelter plant from Ratnagiri in Maharashtra to Thoothukudi, in 1994. In 2013, the company was charged with a massive gas leak incident, the Supreme Court imposing a fine of Rs 100 crore.

The TN government issued an order shutting down the plant permanently on May 28, 2018, after police firing on civilians protesting against the plant on May 22 and 23 killed 13 people. The Madras High Court, on August 18, 2020, upheld the G.O., citing a number of violations, while holding officials to account for connivance in a plethora of commissions and omissions.

The court found the plant had been operating without proper approvals for handling hazardous wastes for over 10 years and two months, between January 1997 to March 1998; April 2000 to July 2004; July 2013 to April 2018. Other violations included discharge of approximately 25.91 tonnes of mercury into the environment, and non-compliance to the standards in maintaining stack height.

Anti-Sterlite activists, however, were wary of Vedanta’s move, wondering how the group’s Chairman Anil Agarwal had changed his mind a month after saying he was hopeful of reopening the plant. In March 2021, Vedanta invited an EoI from State governments along the east and west coasts to establish a state-of-art copper smelter of capacity 500 KTPA (Kilo Tonne Per Annum) at an investment of Rs 10,000 crore. Another activist told TNIE also took the view that the decision seems to be aimed at pressurising the SC to take up the company’s case challenging the Madras High Court order.

A legal expert said Vedanta’s move raises several questions. “Who will buy a plant with such a huge liability or what they have told the State government? It might either be a business decision or either to exert pressure on the court. It is too early to comment,” she said. Thoothukudi contractors’ association president STR Thiyagaraja said he was shocked by the announcement to sell the plant. “Anil Agarwal should kindly reconsider his decision,” he said.

Timeline
Oct 31, 1994: Foundation stone laid
Mar 20, 1996: Fishermen besiege vessel laden with raw material for Sterlite
Oct 14, 1996: TNPCB grants Consent To Operate
July 5, 1997: Plant closed after gas leak leads to 96 women being hospitalised
Mar 2, 1999: Eleven All India Radio staff hospitalised due to gas leak
Sept 21, 2004: Supreme Court Monitoring Committee finds non-compliance of waste management to environment standards
Aug, 2005: Production capacity triples from initial 391 tonnes per day
Sep 28, 2010: closed over Madras High Court order
Mar 23, 2013: many hospitalised after a massive gas leak
Apr 2, 2013: Supreme Court imposes fine of Rs 100 crore on plant for violations
Feb 12, 2018: Protests begin after reports of plant’s expansion
Apr 9, 2018: TNPCB denies renewal of CTO
May 22, 2018: Twelve killed in police firing on 100th day of protests
May 23, 2018: One more shot dead as protests continue
May 24: Aruna Jegadeesan committee formed to probe police firing
May 28, 2018: Plant permanently closed
Dec 15, 2018: NGT issues order in favour of Sterlite Copper
Jan 2, 2019: TN govt appeals against NGT order
Feb 18, 2019: SC strikes down NGT order
Aug 18, 2020: Madras HC upholds permanent closure of plant

(With inputs from C Shivakumar in Chennai)

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