Sterlite Copper Commissions Railway Siding at Tuticorin

Thoothukudi : Sterlite Copper has commissioned its first phase of the railway siding project adjacent to the copper smelter plant at Milavittan in Tuticorin. The total investment for the first phase of railway siding project is Rs 25 crore.

The first phase consisting of 7 km track length of railway link project, connecting Sterlite’s smelter unit with the main line became operational on Friday after A.K.Goel, Divisional Railway Manager, Madurai Division flagged off the first rake from the company site.

The railway siding is expected to streamline the  traffic within and outside Sterlite Copper plant premises and  also aims to reduce the company’s cost by increasing efficiency.

The first phase of the project will help the company to transport all its finished & by products   like copper, gypsum and slag to various parts of the country. This will also help the company to minimise the loss of goods during transit.

The second phase of the project is expected to be commissioned by October 2012. It will be equipped with track hopper system, an improvement over the conventional wagon tippler system, to reduce the time interval between loading and unloading.

Completion of the project will also help Sterlite to import raw materials through railway link for its smelter and power plant operations. Sterlite’s 160 MW (2*80 MW) coal based power plant is expected to be commissioned by March 2012.

The company plans to maximise the inward and outward movement through the railway link.

Mr.T.Venkatasubramanian, Additional Divisional Railway Manager, Madurai Division, Mr.Sridhar Narasimhan, Associate Vice President, Finance, Mr.M.Kumaravendhan, Associate General Manager, Projects and Sterlite Officials were present during the inaugural event.

Cut Line : Mr.A.K.Goel, Divisional Railway Manager, Madurai Division inaugurating the first phase of the railway siding project by flagging off the first rake from Sterlite site.

For further information, please contact:

Col.S.Krishnan
General Manager – Admin
Sterlite Copper
krishnan.srinivasan@vedanta.co.in
Tel:  +91 461 424 2926

Business Standard - Sterlite to double copper-smelting plant in Tuticorin

Sterlite to double copper-smelting plant in Tuticorin

Company’s clarification on Mr.Vaiko’s statement in the press on NEERI Inspection Tuticorin, India

April 09, 2011 A section of Media has reported a news item - “Sterlite inspection a hogwash: Vaiko”. The Company would like to clarify that the allegations made by Mr.Vaiko therein are completely baseless. Sterlite would like to clarify that as per the order dated February 25, 2011 of the Hon’ble Supreme Court a Committee comprising of officials from NEERI, Nagpur, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and TNPCB and the PIL Petitioners including Mr.Vaiko, visited Sterlite Copper from April 6-8, 2011. Sterlite Copper extended full cooperation to all during the inspection. Sterlite would like to further clarify that as per the Hon’ble Supreme Court order, only PIL Petitioners were allowed to be present during the inspection. However on the request of Mr.Vaiko (who is one of the PIL Petitioner), four assistants including Mr.Nithyanand Jayaram, a Chennai based NGO was allowed to be part of the Inspection Team. The Committee visited and inspected the entire operations, raw material handling, solid waste management, effluent treatment and zero discharge facilities of the Unit for two and half days (April 6 to 8th afternoon). Necessary samples were drawn by the Committee at all points including those suggested by the PIL Petitioners. However, despite being witness to the entire inspection and operations of the Company, Mr.Vaiko has chosen to give misleading statements in the press. The Company’s Tuticorin Smelter has been operating for last 14 years and is in compliance with all necessary rules and regulations. It deploys ISA Smelt technology which is considered globally as environment friendly.