Vedanta puts Tuticorin plant on sale

Chennai: Vedanta Ltd has decided to put its 4,00,000 ton per annum (tpa) copper smelter plant and refining complex at Tuticorin for sale.

The copper smelter plant complex is known as Sterlite Copper. The company along with Axis Capital has called for Expression of Interest (EoI) for its smelter complex (primary and secondary), sulphuric acid plant, copper refinery, continuous copper rod plant, phosphoric acid plant, effluent treatment plant, 160 MW captive power plant, reverse osmosis units, oxygen generation unit and residential complex with amenities.

However, an environmental activist, who is against the Copper Smelter plant, wondered whether the company can sell the plant when a case is pending in the Supreme Court.

The decision came as a surprise to many as the company was saying that it would reopen the plant. According to Vedanta, the plant produces about 40 per cent of the country's demand for copper and contributes about Rs 2,500 crore per annum to the exchequer and 12 per cent of Tuticorin Port's revenue. Curiously last March, Vedanta came out with an EoI about its decision to set up a 500,000 tpa copper smelter plant in a coastal region in India.

The company has sought expression of interest from coastal states wishing to partner in the project that would have an investment potential of about Rs 10,000 crore through a newspaper advertisement.