Vedanta’s copper unit restart stalled as SC rejects plea
VEDANTA SAYS IT WILL APPROACH THE HIGH COURT IN TAMIL NADU FOR AN ‘URGENT HEARING’ AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE
NEW DELHI: Vedanta Ltd, controlled by billionaire Anil Agarwal, suffered a setback after India’s top court stalled the resumption of operations at its 400,000 metric tons a year copper smelter in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.
The Supreme Court on Monday overturned the green tribunal’s order in December to restart the plant, saying the National Green Tribunal (NGT) doesn’t have the jurisdiction to decide on the matter. It said the company can approach the state high court for restarting the plant.
Vedanta will approach the high court in Tamil Nadu for an “urgent hearing” as early as possible, P Ramnath, chief executive officer of the copper unit, said in a phone interview. “We have to get the actual details in it and based on that we will plan our next course of action.”
The Mumbai-based company had stopped operations for maintenance in March and later extended the closure in the face of mounting opposition from villagers against pollution caused by the plant. The state government shuttered the smelter in May after 13 people died when police opened fire on protesting villagers.
Monday’s decision by the Supreme Court is a departure from last month when judges said during a hearing that they were inclined to allow Vedanta to restart the unit immediately with certain conditions, but a g r e e d t o he a r t hos e who opposed the plant before giving the order.
The latest decision from the top court delays the resumption of production further and may aid a spike in global prices as it means a reduction of 40% of the country’s capacity, according to Care Ratings Ltd.
“We had expected the plant to restart by March and be fully operational by April from initial indications from the courts,” Urvisha Jagasheth, an analyst at Care Ratings, said by phone. “India’s output will continue to be depressed and we will remain a net importer.” Copper on the London Metal Exchange rose as much as 1.1% to $6,258 a ton Monday after the verdict. Shares of Vedanta, which earlier rose as much as 2.7% to ₹151.20, pared gains to trade at ₹147.50 at 12:18 p.m. in Mumbai.