MADURAI
Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry has welcomed NGT’s order for reopening of Sterlite Copper plant in Thoothukudi.
The order by the State government to close the copper smelter unit created a wrong impression in the minds of investors, said Chamber’s senior president S. Rethinavelu and president N. Jagatheesan here on Tuesday.
In a joint statement, they said at a time when the State government was taking all measures to host Global Investors Meet next month, this kind of closure of industrial units would send a wrong signal to industries worldwide.
The State government should consider the plight of the working class and the hardships faced it, and the agonies of small and medium industry players, who depended on Sterlite plant.
The government should clear the doubts raised by some people and they should be convinced of the benefits of having the copper smelter unit with the help of experts. Sterlite Copper was discharging the same quantity of pollutants as it had been discharging two decades ago, the statement said.
No valid reason was given by the Tamil Nadu government to close the unit except that a tense situation prevailed on account of police firing in May. The ‘precipitated action of the State government’ conveyed a wrong message that even without valid reasons protesters could force the closure of an industrial unit, it said.
A number of small-scale industries using copper produced by Sterlite unit as raw material had also been closed. The apprehensions of the protesters ought to have been scientifically cleared by the government. Copper smelter plants functioned in other parts of the country without any hitches, it added.
When huge investments were very negligible in industrially backward southern Tamil Nadu, resistance to mega infrastructure projects such as Sethusamudram Canal Project, Colachal Port Project and Neutrino Project and demand for permanent closure of mega industrial units like Sterlite Copper on emotional grounds would augur bleak prospects for the region.
The State government must encourage setting up of large industrial units in the region, especially along Madurai-Thoothukudi industrial corridor, and ensure their undisturbed functioning, which would create substantial industrial employment opportunities for educated youth, the statement said.
