Exactly a month since the Tamil Nadu government ordered the permanent closure of Vedanta’s Sterlite Copper plant at Tuticorin district, operations at neighbouring industries have slowed down significantly.

Over two decades, Sterlite Copper has been tending raw material requirements of downstream industries.

This includes fertiliser, pigment and pump manufacturing plants that rely on Sterlite, for sulphuric acid, fly ash and copper slag discharge.

Production Halted At Fertiliser and Pigment Plants

VV Titanium Pigments, located next door to Sterlite Copper, has borne the brunt of the closure.

“We haven’t been able to run our plant since there is no procurement of sulphuric acid,” said J Muthu Rajan, Director, VV Group.

“We are currently planning to source acid from factories located outside Tamil Nadu, which in turn, will drastically increase our production cost,” he added.

Muthu Rajan said the situation turned worrisome, when Vedanta halted operations at Sterlite Copper, even as it waited for renewal of its consent to operate.

During this time, VV Titanium Pigments was buying sulphuric acid from Vedanta’s stock. But with the Tamil Nadu government sealing the plant on May 28, there has been no sale of acid.

Estimates say Vedanta produced around 3,000 tonne of sulphuric acid per day, nearly half of which was set aside for the synthesis of phosphoric acid by fertiliser manufacturers.

Since the shutdown, fertiliser companies like Coimbatore Pioneer Fertilizers has hit the brakes on their manufacturing operations, reporting 25% capacity utilisation at its 66,000-tonne-per-annum plant.

Acid Prices Spike

The shortage of sulphuric acid in Tamil Nadu escalated the price from Rs 4,000 per tonne to Rs 14,000 per tonne in just two months.

Manufacturers say they are unable to absorb this steep rise in cost.

“We have government-imposed regulations on fixing selling price of fertiliser,” pointed out S Velumani, Executive Director of Coimbatore Pioneer Fertilizers.

“In addition to this, we are unable to buy acid from outside the state, since freight charges increase significantly when sulphuric acid is transported from afar. We’re unsure of what to do, next,” he added.

“Economic Suicide”

The last couple of days have seen an intense debate over the impact that Sterlite’s closure had on the industry.

"I am not an expert on copper smelting, but I know India has immense use for copper. If we don't produce our own, of course, we will buy from China. Ecological violations can be addressed legally. Lynching large businesses is economic suicide (sic),” tweeted the founder of Coimbatore-based Isha Foundation, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev.

Earlier, yoga guru Ramdev called industries “temples of development for the nation”, adding that they should not be closed.

Tamil Nadu Government: Closure Permanent

Reacting to both statements, Tamil Nadu’s Fisheries Minister, D Jayakumar, said, “Sterlite Copper will not be re-opened since it’s permanently closed. We have taken a firm stand and do not care about the views of Ramdev or Sadhguru.”

The industry, however, says the Tamil Nadu government should meet it half way.

“If the problem is pollution, the onus should be on the industry to devise latent technology to control pollution. If the industry does not do this, the government must enforce these measures and make the company pay," Velumani said.

"Closure cannot be the answer to pollution — especially if it involves an industry that has invested several thousand crores and has provided jobs to thousands of people, while providing raw material for downstream industries," Velumani added.

First Published:Jun 28, 2018 5:16 PM IST