India Court Refuses to Allow Vedanta to Restart Copper Plant

(Bloomberg) -- 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 Monday overturned the green tribunal’s order in December to restart the plant. It said the company can approach the lower court for restarting the plant.

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, which accounts for nearly half of India’s output, in May after 13 people died when police opened fire on protesting villagers.

Shares, which earlier rose as much as 2.7 percent to 151.20 rupees, pared gains to trade at 147.85 rupees after the verdict.

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