India’s Vedanta rallies as tribunal orders its copper smelter restart

Bloomberg

Shares of billionaire Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta Ltd. surged in Mumbai after the country’s National Green Tribunal said the company could restart its copper smelter that accounts for nearly half of India’s output.
Vedanta’s shares rose as much as 6.3 percent in Mumbai on Monday, paring losses to 37 percent this year, after the tribunal quashed the Tamil Nadu state government’s order to shut the 400,000 tons a year smelter.
The tribunal ordered the state pollution board to approve the plant’s restart within three weeks. The tribunal has also directed Vedanta to spend $14 million on community welfare over three years and implement pollution control and monitoring mechanisms. The ruling was in line with the recommendations of a panel set up to give its opinion on the smelter. The panel said that the closure of the copper plant by the state government wasn’t justified and was “against the principles of natural justice.” Vedanta halted its smelter in Tuticorin for maintenance in late March. In May, the Tamil Nadu government shuttered the facility after 13 people died when police opened fire on villagers protesting the pollution caused by the plant.
The state government will approach the Supreme Court to challenge the tribunal’s verdict, the New Indian Express newspaper reported.