Court okays reopening of Vedanta’s Indian plant

AN Indian copper smelter at the center of a police shooting that left 13 protesters dead has been granted permission to reopen by the country’s environmental court.

The Sterlite plant, owned by British miner Vedanta Resources, was closed after the bloody police crackdown in May on protesters who say the smelter is poisoning the air and water.

Vedanta Resources, owned by Indian-born billionaire tycoon Anil Agarwal, had appealed against the plant’s closure by the state government of Tamil Nadu where it is located.

The National Green Tribunal, a federal authority which rules on environmental matters, ordered on Saturday that the plant in Thoothukudi city could resume operation.

Sterlite CEO P Ramnath yesterday welcomed the decision.

“We are happy that all those affected by the closure will get back their source of livelihood and the town of Thoothukudi will revert to normalcy,” he said in a statement on Twitter.

The Tamil Nadu government has said it will appeal the decision in India’s highest court.

Thoothukudi, previously known as Tuticorin, had been rocked by long-running protests over the plant, one of the largest in India. Protesters say it harms the environment and the health of those living near it, claims the firm has long denied.