Advertisements supporting Sterlite Copper appears in newspapers

For the second time in less than a week, advertisements have appeared in prominent newspapers in Tamil Nadu and elsewhere batting for reopening of Vedanta-owned Sterlite Copper in Thoothukudi which was shut down in 2018 following allegations of pollution and environmental degradation.

The newspaper advertisements though didn’t name Vedanta or Sterlite Copper, but clearly batted for the sprawling plant which remains shut since March 2018 following protests by environmentalists and people from Thoothukudi over the company’s expansion plans. The plant was shut down permanently on May 27, 2018, a week after the anti-Sterlite protests turned violent, resulting in the death of 13 people in police firing.

Since then, there have been several attempts by Sterlite Copper to reopen the plant with the company moving the National Green Tribunal, Madras High Court, and Supreme Court seeking to quash the Tamil Nadu government’s decision to close down the plant.

The newspaper advertisements said the copper factory gave livelihood to the people of Thoothukudi for 22 years and it was shut down five years ago taking away jobs of lakhs of people who are now jobless and suffering.

The advertisements were issued in the names of Thoothukudi Makkal Vazhvadhara Padhukappu Sangam, Thoothukudi Industrial Suppliers Association, and Thoothukudi Contractors Association. Within months of the factory’s closure, several residents of villages located close to the Sterlite plant petitioned the district collector seeking reopening of the plant.

“The National Green Tribunal has affirmed its environmental practices. 100s of hearings have happened. During Covid, the plant produced oxygen, saving thousands of lives. This plant gave opportunities for many small businesses. The Government has suffered huge revenue loss,” the advertisements read.

Maintaining that the copper factory is a “national asset”, the advertisements said in the current geopolitical situation and high inflation, India cannot afford to import and shutdown the plant and recalled that the plant was re-opened during the Covid-19 crisis to produce oxygen saving thousands of lives.

The fresh outreach comes months after Sterlite Copper announced that its smelter and other units in Thoothukudi are up for sale.

Sterlite Copper, which began operations in Thoothukudi in 1996, was shut on May 28, 2018 by the Tamil Nadu government on charges of polluting areas around the plant based on an advice from pollution watchdog, Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB).

The government’s action came a week after the anti-Sterlite protests on May 22 turned violent resulting in the death of 13 civilians in police firing. Since then, Sterlite Copper has not been able to reopen its sprawling facility – the oxygen plant inside the complex was operated for a couple of months to meet the needs of patients suffering from Covid-19 second wave in 2021.

Sterlite Copper is the seventh largest copper smelter in the world, meeting 36 percent of the total domestic copper market demand in India by producing 4,00,000 tonnes of refined copper per year. Hindalco supplies around 38 per cent of the market demand, while Hindustan Copper accounts for 10 per cent of the demand.

After Sterlite Copper’s closure in 2018, India began importing copper. Data shows that in 2017-18, Sterlite produced about 48 per cent of the country’s total copper output of 842,961 tonnes.

The development also led to India importing copper from being an exporter -- exports fell from 419 KT in 2017-18 to 87 KT in 2021-22, while imports have gone up to 241 KT in 2021-22 from 215 KT in 2017-18. India also incurred a forex outflow of USD 1.2 billion in 2021-22 on account of copper imports.