Vedanta shares rise 5% on nod to Sterlite plant for oxygen production

Share price of Vedanta rose over 5 per cent after the Tamil Nadu government allowed its shuttered copper smelter plant to produce oxygen for four months. The stock hit an intra-day high of Rs 239.60 on the BSE.

"It was decided in an all-party meeting that Vedanta be allowed to operate the oxygen plant for a temporary period of four months," the Tamil Nadu government said in a statement. However, the production of copper would not be permitted.

The decision was taken in an all-party meet in Chennai on Monday. The 400,000 tonnes per annum Sterlite copper plant was shut in March 2018, after 13 people were killed during a protest against Sterlite Copper.

The company's plant in Thoothukudi contains two oxygen plants with a combined capacity of producing 1,000 tons of oxygen daily," Sterlite Copper CEO Pankaj Kumar had said in a letter to the Union Health Minister.

"We would like to now offer these facilities for your use, towards ensuring that there is no lack of the vital commodity in the nation, and also to join hands with the commendable efforts of our PM at this critical juncture," he added.

India recorded over 3.52 lakh new COVID-19 cases in the 24 hours, taking the country's total cases to over 1.73 crore. Out of these, over 28 lakh cases are currently active while 1.43 crore people have recovered.

The Ministry of Home Affairs on Monday informed that India has enough oxygen, stock but the issue is its transportation. "The Central government is monitoring the movement of oxygen-carrying tankers on a real-time basis through GPS and making them available to hospitals at the shortest possible time," said Piyush Goyal, MHA Additional Secretary.

Also Read: Allow Sterlite Copper plant to reopen only to manufacture oxygen, Vedanta requests SC

Also Read: Tamil Nadu govt allows Sterlite plant to reopen for 4 months to produce oxygen