Sterlite Copper is a subsidiary of Sterlite industries, a company owned by
Vedanta Limited
Vedanta Limited is an Indian multinational mining company headquartered in Mumbai, India, with its main operations in iron ore, gold and aluminium mines in Goa, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Odisha.
History Sterlite Industries
Vedanta (then called St ...
.
History
It was originally incorporated as Rainbow Investments in 1975, the name of the company was changed to Sterlite Cables in 1976. It was later renamed Sterlite Industries in 1986. With a restructuring in July 2000, the company is left with only a metal division comprising copper and aluminium divisions.
In 1994, it acquired Madras Aluminium Company (MALCO) for 55 crores. Sterlite and its associate companies took a 55% stake in India Foils for 50 crores. This improved Sterlite's product mix from aluminum metal to aluminum foil with the largest market share of 65%. In 1999, the company acquired
Copper Mines of Tasmania
Copper Mines of Tasmania is the successor company to the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company that operated in Queenstown, Tasmania for just short of one hundred years.
History
The first form of the company existed during the time of the Moun ...
.
In February 2011, Sterlite Industries acquired
Lisheen Zinc Mine in
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
from
Taurus International S.A., for a share value of approximately $546 million. In September 2013, SESA Goa, Sterlite Industries and Vedanta Aluminium merged to form
Sesa Sterlite Limited
Vedanta Limited is an Indian multinational mining company headquartered in Mumbai, India, with its main operations in iron ore, gold and aluminium mines in Goa, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Odisha.
History Sterlite Industries
Vedanta (then called St ...
. It became listed on the
NYSE
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the List of stock exchanges, world's largest s ...
in June 2007.
Overview
In 1992,
Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation
Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) is a project of the government of Maharashtra state in India and is the leading corporation of Maharashtra. It provides businesses with infrastructure such as land (open plot or built-up spa ...
allotted plot in
Ratnagiri
Ratnagiri (IAST:Ratnāgirī ; ət̪n̪aːɡiɾiː is a port city on the Arabian Sea coast in Ratnagiri District in the southwestern part of Maharashtra, India. The district is a part of Konkan division of Maharashtra. The city is known for ...
district's Zadgaon village. On December 13, 1993, over 30,000 people of the city marched to the unit and demolished the quarters for the construction workers and some other structures. After that incident Sterlite has been relocated to
Thoothukudi
Thoothukudi (formerly Tuticorin) is a port city, a municipal corporation and an industrial city in Thoothukudi district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The city lies in the Coromandel Coast of Bay of Bengal. Thoothukudi is the capital and he ...
.
Three state governments,
Gujarat
Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...
,
Goa
Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...
, and
Maharashtra
Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...
have refused permission to the Vedanta Group to set up its 40,000 tonnes capacity due to its high polluting nature of the Sterlite copper smelting plant before the company managed to convince the
Tamil Nadu government
Government of Tamil Nadu is the subnational government for the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is seated at Fort St George, Chennai. The legislature of Tamil Nadu was bicameral until 1986, when it was replaced by a unicameral legislature, like ...
. Since its commencement in 1997, the plant had been found on numerous occasions to flout the pollution norms with impunity and foregone permit requirements by pollution regulators, as observed by the courts.
Sterlite operated the largest copper smelter plant in India, in
Thoothukudi
Thoothukudi (formerly Tuticorin) is a port city, a municipal corporation and an industrial city in Thoothukudi district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The city lies in the Coromandel Coast of Bay of Bengal. Thoothukudi is the capital and he ...
from 1998 to 2018. The plant was not operational from March 2018 and was shut down by the
Government of Tamil Nadu
Government of Tamil Nadu is the subnational government for the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is seated at Fort St George, Chennai. The legislature of Tamil Nadu was bicameral until 1986, when it was replaced by a unicameral legislature, lik ...
on 28 May 2018 after protests from locals. The plant also included a refinery, a phosphoric acid plant and a sulphuric acid plant.
The company's main operating subsidiaries are
Hindustan Zinc
Hindustan Zinc Limited (HZL) is an Indian integrated mining and resources producer of zinc, lead, silver and cadmium. It is a subsidiary of Vedanta Limited. Earlier it was a Central Public Sector Undertaking, sold by Government of India to Ved ...
Limited for its zinc and lead operations;
Copper Mines of Tasmania Pty Limited for its copper operations in Australia; and
Bharat Aluminium Company Limited for its aluminium operations. It also operates a copper mine in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
.
COVID-19
In late April 2021, considering the
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
situation and oxygen requirement, Sterlite Copper received special permission from the
Government of Tamil Nadu
Government of Tamil Nadu is the subnational government for the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is seated at Fort St George, Chennai. The legislature of Tamil Nadu was bicameral until 1986, when it was replaced by a unicameral legislature, lik ...
to produce medical oxygen at their copper smelter plant in
Thoothukudi
Thoothukudi (formerly Tuticorin) is a port city, a municipal corporation and an industrial city in Thoothukudi district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The city lies in the Coromandel Coast of Bay of Bengal. Thoothukudi is the capital and he ...
, which was closed since 2018 after the state government's order. The company generated and despatched over 542.92 metric tonnes of liquid medical oxygen by June 2021 to help India deal with Covid-19. This is in addition to 953 oxygen cylinders containing 6671Nm³ of gaseous oxygen were supplied to meet the requirements of COVID-19 patients and hospitals. It also donated to the
Government of Tamil Nadu
Government of Tamil Nadu is the subnational government for the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is seated at Fort St George, Chennai. The legislature of Tamil Nadu was bicameral until 1986, when it was replaced by a unicameral legislature, lik ...
Chief Minister's Public Relief Fund in April 2021.
Financials
The company reported ₹1,055 crores as its operating profit in India in the financial year 2018. In FY20, it recorded an operating profit of negative ₹300 crores. It reported a loss in
Ebitda
A company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (commonly abbreviated EBITDA, pronounced , , or ) is a measure of a company's profitability of the operating business only, thus before any effects of indebtedness, stat ...
of ₹235 crore and a revenue drop by 57% to ₹10,739 crore during the fiscal year 2018-19, compared to FY 2018-17, primarily due to the shutdown of
Thoothukudi
Thoothukudi (formerly Tuticorin) is a port city, a municipal corporation and an industrial city in Thoothukudi district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The city lies in the Coromandel Coast of Bay of Bengal. Thoothukudi is the capital and he ...
smelter in
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
. In 2017-18, the company reported an
Ebitda
A company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (commonly abbreviated EBITDA, pronounced , , or ) is a measure of a company's profitability of the operating business only, thus before any effects of indebtedness, stat ...
profit of ₹1,055 crore. The company's revenue was ₹24,951 crore in the FY18.
Controversies
In 2001, Sterlite industries,
BPL and
Videocon
Videocon Industries Limited is an Indian multinational conglomerate, headquartered in Mumbai. The group had 17 manufacturing sites in India and plants in Mainland China, Poland, Italy and Mexico. It was the third largest picture tube manufact ...
were found guilty by
SEBI
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is the regulatory body for securities and commodity market in India under the ownership of Ministry of Finance within the Government of India. It was established on 12 April 1988 as an executive ...
of having colluded with
Harshad Mehta
Harshad Shantilal Mehta (29 July 1954 — 31 December 2001) was an Indian stockbroker and a convicted fraudster. Mehta's involvement in the 1992 Indian securities scam made him infamous as a market manipulator.
Of the 27 criminal charges br ...
and 17 brokers (10 from
BSE
BSE may refer to:
Medicine
* Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, also known as mad cow disease, a neurodegenerative disease of cattle
* Breast self-examination
Stock exchanges
* Bahrain Stock Exchange, Bahrain
* Baku Stock Exchange, Azerbaijan
* B ...
and 7 from
NSE) in a bid to corner shares and rig shares prices. This resulted in a ban on the company from accessing capital markets for 2 years.
In 2003,
Vedanta Resources
Vedanta Resources Limited is an Indian diversified mining company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest mining and non-ferrous metals company in India and has mining operations in Australia and Zambia and oil and gas opera ...
(UK) was listed on the
London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...
in the second largest floatation of the year in LSE. Vedanta Resources is a holding company that owns many entities including a large proportion of
Vedanta Limited
Vedanta Limited is an Indian multinational mining company headquartered in Mumbai, India, with its main operations in iron ore, gold and aluminium mines in Goa, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Odisha.
History Sterlite Industries
Vedanta (then called St ...
and Sterlite industries.
Thoothukudi violence
The Thoothukudi Copper Smelting plant has been long-opposed
by the local residents for polluting their environment as well as causing a range of health problems and has been subject to several closures, on grounds of violating environmental norms.
The
National Environmental Engineering Research Institute
The CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI) is a research institute created and funded by Government of India. It was established in Nagpur in the year 1958 with focus on water supply, sewage disposal and commu ...
(NEERI) and the
Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board
Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board is the governing body to monitor and control air, noise, and water pollution in the state of Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area an ...
(TNPCB) found evidence that Sterlite contaminated the groundwater, air and soil with its effluents and also violated standards of operation.
In 2010, the Madras High Court had ordered a shut down of the same plant, for violating environmental regulations which was subsequently challenged by the group in the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court, in April, 2013 struck down the Madras high court's order
and instead fined Sterlite Rs 100 crore for polluting the environment and for operating the plant without a renewal of the consents by TNPCB.
Post a favorable ruling by the
National Green Tribunal
The National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 is an Act of the Parliament of India which enables the creation of a special tribunal to handle the expeditious disposal of the cases pertaining to environmental issues. It draws inspiration from India's ...
(NGT), the plant soon reopened.
In March 2013, TNPCB re-ordered a closure of the plant on grounds of leakage of gas, leading to nausea and skin irritation among local inhabitants.
The group has steadfastly denied accusations of any wrongdoing, throughout.
In March and April 2018, there were renewed mass-protests against the company's plans of setting up a second smelting complex and demands of an entire shutdown of the smelting plants, on grounds of violating environmental regulations were raised.
On 22 May 2018 the protests took a deadlier when 20,000 protesters turned violent and subsequently police had to resort to lathi charge and shooting. In the event referred to as
Thoothukudi violence
Thoothukudi massacre (also known as the Thoothukudi police firing, the Anti Sterlite protest firing and so on) denotes events that took place on 22 and 23 May 2018 in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu, India. The violence took place during an ongoing pro ...
14 people were killed and several others injured.
Section 144 Unlawful assembly is a legal term to describe a group of people with the mutual intent of deliberate disturbance of the peace. If the group is about to start an act of disturbance, it is termed a rout; if the disturbance is commenced, it is then ter ...
was imposed to control the situation.
On 28 May 2018, the Government of Tamil Nadu ordered the permanent closure of Sterlite plant in Thoothukudi.
This action of TN Government was set aside by NGT on 15 December 2018, directing the TNPCB to pass fresh order of renewal of consent and authorization to handle hazardous substances.
Though the
Supreme Court of India
The Supreme Court of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme judicial authority of India and is the highest court of the Republic of India under the constitution. It is the most senior constitutional court, has the final decision in all legal matters ...
set aside these directions on appeal by TN Government, Justices
Rohinton Fali Nariman
Rohinton Fali Nariman (born 13 August 1956) is a former Judge of the Supreme Court of India. Before being elevated as a judge, he practised as a senior counsel at the Supreme Court. He was appointed the Solicitor General of India on 23 July 201 ...
and
Navin Sinha
Navin Sinha is a former judge of the Supreme Court of India. Sinha was elevated as a judge of the Patna High Court before serving as chief justice of the Chhattisgarh High Court and after that as the chief justice of the Rajasthan High Court b ...
held on 18 February 2019 that the NGT had no jurisdiction to entertain the matter. But the ADMK parties are given rights to approach the Madras High Court.
Aftermath and impact
As it was classified as a red category, the district administration has maintained the smelter premises since its closure. On March 22, 2019, the company submitted an affidavit to the
Madras High Court
The Madras High Court is a High Court in India. It has appellate jurisdiction over the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is located in Chennai, and is the third oldest high court of India after the Calcutta High C ...
, claiming the damage of , which was caused due to negligence in maintaining the premises by the district authorities.
A study conducted by the
Asian Institute of Technology
The Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), founded in 1959, is an Intergovernmental organization, international organization for higher education situated 40km north of Bangkok, Thailand. It specializes in engineering, technology, advanced technol ...
,
Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...
and
National Institute of Technology
The National Institutes of Technology (NITs) are the central government-owned-public technical institutes under the ownership of Ministry of Education, Government of India. They are governed by the National Institutes of Technology, Science ...
,
Jamshedpur
Jamshedpur (, ) or Tatanagar is the largest and most populous city in Jharkhand and the first planned industrial city in India. It is a Notified Area Council and Municipal Corporation and also the headquarter of the East Singhbhum district. It ...
, indicated no significant change in the air quality and
sulfur dioxide
Sulfur dioxide (IUPAC-recommended spelling) or sulphur dioxide (traditional Commonwealth English) is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a toxic gas responsible for the odor of burnt matches. It is released naturally by volcanic activ ...
contribution to pollution in Thoothukudi before and after the closure of the smelter in 2018, while another study conducted by
Anna University
Anna University is a public state university located in Tamil Nadu, India. The main campus is in Chennai. It was originally established on 4 September 1978 and was named after C. N. Annadurai, the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.
History & ...
and the Centre for Climate Change and Adaptation Research confirmed that the road dust and vehicular emission as major factors contributing for the dust, causing poor air quality.
In June 2019, ''
Mint
MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaAES g ...
'' reported that the company faced a loss of about $200 million in profits ever since its copper smelter plant got closed. Around 20,000 people lost their jobs, who were employed by the company due to the shutting of the smelter and about 98,400 people were affected in the consumer or downstream industries. The plant's closure also caused a
cascading effect on the supply chain of chemicals and the associated industries that operate using products of Sterlite Copper.
[
According to commerce ministry data, it impacted India's industrial metal exports and led to becoming a net importer beginning 2018-19. In March 2021, in a written response in the Lok Sabha, ]Pralhad Joshi
Pralhad Venkatesh Joshi (born 27 November 1962) is an Indian politician who is the current union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines of India, since 30 May 2019 and Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha, since 2004, representin ...
, the Minister of Mines, Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when dea ...
and Parliamentary Affairs
''Parliamentary Affairs'' is a British peer-reviewed quarterly academic journal. Founded in 1947, it focuses on the government and politics of the United Kingdom, and also covers parliamentary systems across the world. It is published by the Oxf ...
, informed the lower house that the plant's closure has affected the domestic production of refined copper. The copper production of India dropped to 410,000 tonnes in 2019-20 from 830,000 tonnes in 2017-18 and the refined copper output in 2018-19 was 450,000 tonnes.
In 2021 and 2022, it was also reported that several petitions were filed by villagers, fishermen and a few local organizations demanding the reopening of Sterlite Copper including the victims of police firing on anti-Sterlite protests.[
The Justice Aruna Jagadeesan Commission has not found any “specific evidence” that points to the involvement of either Sterlite Industries, as claimed by a few activist groups, or any outfit, as alleged by the then government and a few individuals such as actor Rajinikanth, in the violence of May 22, 2018.
]
CSR
The company is engaged in various CSR activities, supporting health, education, environmental and humanitarian causes. In June 2019, the company supplied RO purified water to 1,400 families in 12 villages as part of the Muthucharam - Tamira Surabhi Project during the water crisis. It has launched Tamira Muthukkal, a project under the Muthucharam Initiative that provides skill training modules on various courses to help the youth of Thoothukudi to seek employment. It has also launched a skill center, offering courses and training in logistic trade. It runs a project called Ilam Mottukal, which works for the education of girl child in the Thoothukudi district
Thoothukudi District is one of the 38 districts of Tamil Nadu state in southern India. The district was formed by bifurcation of Tirunelveli district on 20 October 1986. Thoothukudi is the district headquarters and largest city of the distric ...
and also runs a scholarship program called Sterlite Educational Scholarship. In December 2018, it announced to allocate to set up social infrastructure, including building a hospital and one million trees plantation in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu. Sterlite donated to the Chief Minister's Public Relief Fund during COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
in April 2021.
Awards and recognition
* In 2009, the company was named in the American Society for Quality
The American Society for Quality (ASQ), formerly the American Society for Quality Control (ASQC), is a society of quality professionals, with nearly 80,000 members.
History
ASQC was established on 16 February 1946 by 253 members in Milwaukee, ...
(ASQ)'s International Team Excellence Awards finalists.
* In March 2011, the company awarded the Indian Merchants' Chamber
Indian Merchants' Chamber, established on 7 September 1907 in Mumbai, is an organization of India, representing interests of Indian trade, commerce, and industry. It was organized originally during the days of the British Raj to promote trade, co ...
's Ramkrishna Bajaj National Quality Award 2010 under the manufacturing category.
* It won FICCI Water Award by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry
The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) is a non-governmental trade association and advocacy group based in India.
History
Established in 1927, on the advice of Mahatma Gandhi by Indian businessman G.D. Birla and ...
and HSBC India in August 2012.
* In December 2012, Sterlite Copper won the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India Associated may refer to:
*Associated, former name of Avon, Contra Costa County, California
* Associated Hebrew Schools of Toronto, a school in Canada
*Associated Newspapers, former name of DMG Media, a British publishing company
See also
*Associat ...
(ASSOCHAM) appreciation award for its contribution in the field of CSR.
* In September 2013, the company won the Greentech Best Safety Practices award under the metals and mining category by the Greentech Foundation.
* In July 2016, it was awarded the Confederation of Indian Industries
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is a non-governmental trade association and advocacy group headquartered in New Delhi, India, founded in 1895.
CII engages business, political, academic, and other leaders of society to shape globa ...
'4 Star Rating' Award in the CII Southern Region Environment, Health and Safety Environment (E), health (H) and safety (S), EHS is an acronym for the set that studies and implements the practical aspects of protecting the environment and maintaining health and safety at occupation. In simple terms it is what organizations must ...
(EHS) Awards.
* In November 2016, Sterlite Copper won the National Award for Excellence in Water Management 2016 by the Confederation of Indian Industry
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is a non-governmental trade association and advocacy group headquartered in New Delhi, India, founded in 1895.
CII engages business, political, academic, and other leaders of society to shape global ...
.
* The company won the CII's Excellent Energy Efficient Unit award in the 18th National Energy Management Awards 2017 by the Confederation of Indian Industry
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is a non-governmental trade association and advocacy group headquartered in New Delhi, India, founded in 1895.
CII engages business, political, academic, and other leaders of society to shape global ...
in September 2017.
* In December 2017, it received the Future Ready Factory of the Year Award by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry
The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) is a non-governmental trade association and advocacy group based in India.
History
Established in 1927, on the advice of Mahatma Gandhi by Indian businessman G.D. Birla and ...
and Frost & Sullivan
Frost & Sullivan is an American business consulting firm. It offers market research and analysis, growth strategy consulting, and corporate training. It has about 45 offices in the Americas, Africa, Asia and Europe; the principal office is in San ...
.
* In January 2018, it was awarded the British Safety Council
The British Safety Council, a registered charity founded by James Tye in 1957, is one of the world's leading health and safety organisations alongside the likes of Institution of Occupational Safety and Health and International Institute of Ris ...
's Sword of Honour Award 2017 with a 'Five Star Rating' in the preliminary evaluation.
References
{{Authority control
Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange
Copper mining companies of India
Companies based in Kolkata
Vedanta Resources
Year of establishment missing