New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered Sterlite Industries, a subsidiary of mining giant Vedanta, to pay Rs 100 crore as compensation for environmental damage around its Tuticorin-based co

Sterlite asked to deposit Rs. 100 crore with Collector

The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Sterlite copper smelter plant to deposit within three months a compensation of Rs.100 crore with the Tuticorin Collector. A Bench of Justices A.K. Patnaik and H.L. Gokhale said this amount would be put in fixed deposit in a nationalised bank for a minimum of five years, renewable as and when it expired, and the interest would be spent on suitable measures for improvement of the environment after consultation with the TNPCB and approval of the Government of Tamil Nadu.

Tamil Nadu is likely to get 617 MW of additional power from the Neyveli Lignite Corporation by March 2014, according to B. Surender Mohan, Chairman-cum-Managing Director, NLC.

He told a press conference here on Monday that from the NTPL project, a joint venture of the NLC and the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation, being set up at Tuticorin, the State would get 387 MW and another 230 MW would come from the Thermal Power Station-II Expansion in Neyveli.

India's top court imposed a fine of Rs 100 crore ($18.40 million) on Sterlite Industries for polluting environment through its copper smelting plant in Tamil Nadu The case is unrelated to a separate order that has shut the Tuticorin plant, India's largest, since last week following complaints of a gas leak.

Despite the fine, the Supreme Court overruled an earlier order from the Madras High Court to shut down the plant over long-standing environmental concerns, the bench headed by Judge A.K. Patnaik said.

The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) on Saturday ordered closure of Sterlite Industries Ltd.’s copper smelter unit in Tuticorin, in the wake of alleged noxious gas leak from it. The TNPCB, under instructions from District Collector Ashish Kumar, issued a notice directing the Vedanta group company to close the plant, officials said.

Company officials said they have started shutting down the operations of the unit complying with the TNPCB order, which came a week after an unspecified gas allegedly leaked in the area on March 23.

First unit of 500 MW likely to go on stream in December 2013

A consortium of banks has agreed to lend Rs. 937 crore for the 1,000-MW NTPL power project, a joint venture of the Neyveli Lignite Corporation and the Tamil Nadu Power Generation and Distribution Corporation. The project is coming up at Tuticorin. The agreement was signed by NLC Director (Finance) Rakesh Kumar and Bank of India Deputy General Manager (Mumbai) S. Gunasekar on the NLC premises on Monday.

In the backdrop of power shortage, which makes charging inverters a difficult task, the Solar Energy Exhibition being held at Thiagarajar College of Engineering sought to convey the purpose of innovative solar chargers and various means of solar power generation and utilisation.

As many as 14 leading solar energy product manufacturers and suppliers from all over India showcased their products in the exhibition. Solar powered toys, lighting products and domestic solar power supplying appliances were exhibited.

The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday announced a slew of drinking water projects.

According to a release, Rs 94.4 crore has been allotted to implement a project to provide water to people in 248 settlements in Kovilpatti, Kayathar, Ottapidaram, Vilathikulam and Pudur blocks in Tuticorin district. Another Rs 1.62 crore has been earmarked for annual maintenance of the project. Water from Thamirabarani river will be used for the project.

Merchant power plants based on captive coal might soon feel the pressure to enter into power purchase agreements (PPAs) for selling electricity as states return to market for power procurement through the tariff bidding route.

Companies such as Jindal Power, which are selling cheaper power generated from captive coal in the free market, have so far dodged compliance with the coal ministry's directive to sign PPAs by citing lack of tender for power purchase by states.