Vedanta will have to keep its plans to resume operations at its copper smelter in India on hold for longer after a local court rejected an appeal to restart the plant.
The Madras High Court on Tuesday refused permission to restart the plant in southern India’s Tamil Nadu state. The court also said it hasn’t yet decided on a petition to the demolish plant. Vedanta can now appeal to the nation’s top court.
Billionaire Anil Agarwal’s commodities producer stopped operations at the smelter for maintenance in March 2018 and later extended the shutdown due to mounting opposition from villagers against pollution caused by the plant. The state government closed the smelter two months later after more than a dozen people died when police opened fire on protesting villagers.