Apex court extends stay on Sterlite’s shut down

NEW DELHI - The Supreme Court Monday extended its interim stay order on the Madras High Court’s verdict that directed Sterlite Industries to shut down its copper smelter plant in Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu, court officials said.

The stay order will be operative until the apex court takes up the matter for hearing again in the second week of December, officials said.

Sterlite Industries, part of the London-based billionaire Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta Resources, had moved the apex court Oct 14 against the high court order, which Oct 12 had directed immediate shut-down of the plant on environmental grounds, according to officials.

The company has spent around Rs.500 crore on expansion of its Tuticorin plant.

Last year, Sterlite announced additional investment to double its copper smelter capacity to 800,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) and setting up of a 160 MW captive power plant at Tuticorin, around 580 km from Chennai, to be commissioned next year.