It has been revealed that the Tamilnadu pollution control board has refused to renew the application to provide consent for the operations of the controversial Sterlite Copper smelter in Thoothukudi, following which the plant will be under maintenance indefinitely. Though this was not officially announced, the information came to light with the letter sent by Vedanta Groups who own Sterlite Copper, to the Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange, where they had mentioned about the rejection of application as per SEBI guidelines.
As written by Bhumika Sood, the Security and Compliance officer of Vedanta Groups, the company's application to renew consent to operate the Sterlite Copper plant in Thoothukudi has been rejected asking for clarifications, and that Vedanta is looking to take further actions. Though the maintenance will continue beyond 15 days, the date of operational restart has not been revealed yet.
Sterlite Copper plant has been
shutdown since March 29, after numerous protests in Thoothukudi against
Sterlite. The renewal for CTO had expired on March 31, and now this setback has
come for Vedanta groups who have been facing a tough time with protests and
agitations throughout the state against Sterlite Copper. With this license
renewal issue, the protesters have got a much needed breakthrough and a first
step towards achieving Sterlite Copper ban.
