Production, exports of refined copper dip due to closure of Vedanta's plant in Tamil Nadu

New Delhi, Feb 7 () The domestic production and exports of refined copper have declined since May 2018 due to the closure of copper smelter plant of Vedanta Ltd at Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu, Parliament was informed on Friday.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that during April-November 2019, imports and exports of refined copper stood at 1,09,324 tonne (USD 684.02 million) and 18,300 tonnes (USD 106.35 million), respectively.

"The domestic production and exports of refined copper have declined largely due to the closure, since May 2018, of the copper smelter plant of Vedanta Ltd at Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, which has an annual production capacity of 4 lakh tonnes per annum," Goyal said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

He said Vedanta Ltd has filed a writ petition in February 2019 before the Madras High Court challenging the orders of the state government of Tamil Nadu and the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, and the matter is sub-judice.

In a separate reply, he said the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has recognised 27,916 start-ups, as on February 1 this year.

"800 start-ups have been recognised in Rajasthan by the DPIIT as on February 1," he added. RR HRS