Sterlite Copper has filed an appeal before the National Green Tribunal, New Delhi, challenging the orders passed by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) directing closure of its copper smelter unit at Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu.

The company has also sought NGT’s permission to allow it to carry out care and maintenance of the plant during the pendency of appeal, says a statement from London-based Vedanta Ltd, which owns Sterlite Copper.

TNPCB which had earlier chose not to renew the ‘consent to operate’ for the smelter unit, issued directions for disconnection of power supply and closure of the plant on May 24.

The Tamil Nadu government on May 28, ordered to permanently shut down Sterlite’s copper plant — a week after over ten people protesting against the factory were killed in police firing.

The plant, which has been in existence for 22 years, has the capacity to produce 4 lakh tonnes of copper annually. Sterlite employs 3,500 people at the unit, has invested ₹2,500 crore in it, and had announced an expansion of ₹3,000 crore in September 2008 to double the capacity which triggered the largescale protests.

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