The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board has closed Graphite India Ltd’s Bangalore unit.
The company sources told Business Line that the plant which produces graphite electrodes and employed around 450 people was closed since last Friday.
The Kolkata-headquartered KK Bangur Group outfit has allegedly been found guilty of air pollution. The Karnataka board had earlier issued notice to the unit.
The company is understood to have initiated process to install air pollution control systems. It had sought time from the Karnataka board for the installation.
“We have ordered for the equipment. But the installation could be possible sometime in September. We are trying to expedite the process,” said a company official.
The 13,000-tonne a year Bangalore plant is Graphite India’s one of the two electrodes manufacturing units. The other plant is located at Durgapur in West Bengal. The graphite electrodes are used for steel making in electric arc furnaces.
The company informed the BSE that the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board ordered closure of industrial operations in the company's plant in Bangalore till further orders, alleging non-compliance with the provisions of the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981. “The closure order has been complied with. The company being aggrieved by the alleged non-compliance and the consequent closure order is exploring all available legal options,” the disclosure to the stock exchange further said.