Sterlite awaits full text of HC order to chalk future strategy

A day after the Madras High Court ordered closure of its copper smelter plant in Tuticorin for non-compliance of environment norms, Sterlite Industries today said it deploys ecologically advanced technology and is awaiting full text of the order to decide on future course.

The High Court yesterday held that the facility should be closed because of its proximity to an ecologically fragile area and faulted Sterlite, a subsidiary of UK-based Vedanta Group, for not developing a green belt around the plant in southern Tamil Nadu.

"...An Order has been passed by the High Court, on September 28, 2010, ordering closure of the plant. The company is awaiting full text of the Order so as to decide on necessary recourse measures," the company said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.
    
It said, "The Tuticorin Smelter has been operating for more than 12 years and has been in compliance with necessary rules and regulations and global standards. It deploys ISAS melt process, which is considered globally as an environmentally advanced technology."
    
The Anil Agarwal-led company employs around 3,000 people in Tamil Nadu, and contributes "about Rs 1,600 crore to the exchequer annually," it added.
    
The legal blow comes a month after the central government rejected clearance to the Vedanta group's Rs 7,000 crore bauxite mining project at Niyamgiri hills in Orissa, for serious violation of forest laws.
    
The government had also sent a show-cause notice to the company as to why the clearance for the one million tonnes per annum alumina refinery at Lanjigarh in Orissa should not be cancelled in view of gross violation of environment norms.
    
The Madras High Court division bench held yesterday that the plant was within 25 km of an ecologically fragile area and the company has failed to develop a green belt of 250 metre width around the plant.
    
It directed the Tuticorin District Collector to take necessary steps for re-employment of the workforce so as to protect their livelihood.
    
The Court said there has been unabated pollution by the company, which should be stopped at least for now so as to protect the mother nature from being 'tarred'.
    
The Court also noted that the plant was set up amid protests from people of different sections at Tuticorin.
    
The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) had granted permission to Sterlite to run a unit to manufacture 391 MT of blister copper and 1,060 tonnes of sulphuric acid.