- Thursday, February 27, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
THE Vendanta Group led by Anil Agarwal has decided to sell the Sterlite Copper smelting plant in Thoothukudi in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu after facing several hurdles – legal and political – in reopening it.
According to a report in The Hindu Business Line, the company has sought express of interest (EoI) from potential buyers.
“The Tuticorin plant is a national asset catering to 40 per cent of our copper l demand and has played an integral role towards India’s self-sufficiency. In the country’s best interest and the people of Tamil Nadu, we are exploring options to make sure that the plant and the assets are best utilised to meet growing demand of the nation,” a company spokesperson was quoted as saying by the BusinessLine.
The company has called the bids in conjunction with Axis Capital and the deadline for submitting the EoI is July 4, the report added. Vedanta pegged the plant’s capacity at 4,00,000 tonnes a year in an advertisement. The company’s share price was low by 12.67 per cent to Rs 230 (£2.41) on Bombay Stock Exchange on Monday (20).
The plant was shut in May 2018 after the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board issued order over concerns of pollution. The board ordered the plant to be shut down permanently after protests against Sterlite turned serious with police bullets killing 13 agitators.
The company challenged the closure of the plant in Madras High Court but the latter refused to permit its reopening. The case is now at the Supreme Court of India.
The company faced a loss of Rs 4,000 crore (£419 million) since the plant’s closure, after having invested Rs 3,000 crore (£314 million). At the time of the shutdown, it directly employed 5,000 people while indirectly another 25,000.
Vedanta could establish a new plant in another Indian state and had earlier invited EoI from various state governments, the BusinessLine report added.
The proposed 5,00,000 tonnes yearly copper smelter could employ 10,000 people, Vedanta had said earlier. It added it was looking for a 1,000-acre site located close to a port.
In a recent interview, Agarwal said that shifting the plant to another state was the last resort.
“While coastal States such as Andhra Pradesh are interested in the project we don’t want to do anything in haste. We can go to another state but we have been in Thoothukudi for over 20 years. We like the people there and we have the trust of the local people,” he told BusinessLine some months ago.
