Vedanta's Green Woes

Tuticorin is just one of the many instances of alleged environmental law violation by the group.

- Rajeev Dubey

THE SHUTTING down of Sterlite Copper’s operations at Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu shrinks the revenue of global metals and mining major’s UK parent Vedanta Resources by nearly 25 per cent. It also deals a big blow to its attempt to reposition itself as an environmentally and socially responsible mining company, and infuses a wild uncertainty into its operations and balance sheet both in India and abroad.

India’s consumption economy is fuelling unprecedented demand for metals and plastics. Their production has a colossal fallout on the environment. That has the nation grappling with the difficult balancing act between economic compulsions and ecological preservation. For now, the hawks seem to have an upper hand. Especially, when politics hijacks one for the other at various points – as it did in Tuticorin. “Closure of the Sterlite Copper plant is an unfortunate development, especially since we have operated the plant for over 22 years in the most transparent and sustainable way, contributing to Tuticorin and the state’s socio-economic development,” says Vedanta Group Founder and Chairman Anil Agarwal.

“We expect the company’s scale, as measured by pro forma revenue for fiscal 2018, to decline by 25 per cent to $11.5 billion from $15.4 billion,” says Moody’s Research.