Vedanta chairman Anil Agarwal has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his help in the reopening of the Sterlite copper smelter plant in Thoothukudi that has been shut down by the state government in May 2018 after protests from local residents over alleged pollution of the area by violating environmental norms.
Chennai: In the letter to the Prime Minister, Agarwal said that as a consequence of the closure of the smelter plant, over USD 1200 million of precious foreign exchange (Rs 40,000 crore) was lost, a situation that was exploited by Pakistan by increased copper shipments to China to USD 550 million last year from USD 106 million three years ago.
He said the closure of the Thoothukudi project has impacted the Indian economy in multiple ways leading to heavy imports of copper, rendering thousands of workers jobless and loss of revenue to the exchequer of both the Centre and Tamil Nadu in the form of taxes and cess and energy deficit.
“I there in all humility and earnestness appeal to you to take a judicious call to initiate measures to open and operate the plants in the overall interest of economy, employment,” Agarwal said.
The copper smelting plant has been long-opposed by the local residents for allegedly causing a range of health problems and has been subject to several closures, on grounds of violating environmental norms.
He said the closure of the Thoothukudi project has impacted the Indian economy in multiple ways leading to heavy imports of copper, rendering thousands of workers jobless and loss of revenue to the exchequer of both the Centre and Tamil Nadu in the form of taxes and cess and energy deficit.
“I there in all humility and earnestness appeal to you to take a judicious call to initiate measures to open and operate the plants in the overall interest of economy, employment,” Agarwal said.
The copper smelting plant has been long-opposed by the local residents for allegedly causing a range of health problems and has been subject to several closures, on grounds of violating environmental norms.