New Delhi, Aug 27 (TIWN) Mining company Vedanta on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court, challenging the Madras High Court order that rejected its plea to allow reopening of the Sterlite copper unit in Tamil Nadu's Tuticorin, closed since May 2018 due to pollution issues.

The company for example, used to spend about Rs 600 crore in the vicinity of Thoothukudi, by way of salaries and in some input materials, which has come to a halt. This has led to loss of livelihood for nearly 50,000 people. Apart from raising copper imports, the unit's closure has also affected demand supply balance of Sterlite Copper's major by-proucts. "For instance, a key fall out of the closure of the unit has been a surge in India's imports of sulphuric acid," according to Mayur Karmakar, President, International Copper Association. It has also led to a hike in international prices of Sulphuric acid. The latter is used to make fertilisers and the shut down of the smelter which catered to nearly 30-40% of the domestic need, has turned India into a net importer of sulphuric acid, he pointed out.