Vedanta to stick to operations in Tamil Nadu despite deadly protests: company executive

By Krishna N. Das

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - London-listed Vedanta Resources plans to stick to operations in Tamil Nadu despite protests demanding the closure of its copper smelter that killed 13 people this week, a company executive told Reuters on Friday.

The company's position comes a day after the state of Tamil Nadu, where the smelter is located, said it was seeking a permanent closure of the plant on environmental grounds.

"We're not in that stage to look at setting up a plant elsewhere," P. Ramnath, chief executive of Vedanta's India copper business, said in an interview.

"We're confident that we will be able to overcome these issues. It will certainly require a huge effort but I am sure we can hope to restart as quickly as possible."

 

(Reporting by Krishna N. Das; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)