'Sterlite plant in Thoothukudi to reopen for 4 months to produce oxygen'

Tamil Nadu CM Edappadi K Palaniswami said that the Sterlite plant at Thoothukudi will reopen for four months to produce oxygen.

Chennai: Tamil Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Monday said that the Sterlite plant at Thoothukudi will reopen for four months to produce oxygen. The decision was taken in an all-party meeting called by CM in Chennai. It has been decided that the plant will only produce oxygen under the supervision of a District Collector-led committee.

For further developments, all-party meetings can be convened again and decisions can be made, according to government sources.

Oxygen demand has increased in Tamil Nadu as the second wave of corona pandemic has started affecting the state. The number of corona victims affected each day has reached 15,000. The oxygen produced in Tamil Nadu is distributed by the Central Government to the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh as well.

Under these circumstances, the Vedanta's Sterlite plant approached the Supreme Court regarding the production of oxygen at the Sterlite plant. Following this, the court had ordered the state govt to take a decision on whether to allow Sterlite to run the plant.

However, the development has not gone well among the people in the state. The plant was closed in May 2018 after13 anti-Sterlite protesters were killed in police firing.