Vedanta Ltd, the Anil Agarwal-led firm, has reportedly shelved its plan to sell the copper smelter unit at Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu.
The company had decided to put up the 400,000-tonne copper smelter and refining plant for sale last year. Vedanta along with Axis Capital had then called for expressions of interest (EoI) for the complex which also included a sulphuric acid plant, copper refinery, phosphoric acid plant and effluent treatment plant.
However, a Bloomberg report on Tuesday said that Vedanta has shelved the plan, and has instead decided to work with the local population to restart the unit shut down on environmental concerns. Incidentally, the company’s petition to lift the earlier state government’s order to close the plant will be heard by the Supreme Court on February 21.
The smelter has been closed since 2018. Shares of Vedanta on Tuesday ended with gains of 3.34 per cent at Rs 332.60 on the BSE. In a separate announcement, Vedanta Aluminium said it has raised $250 million (Rs 2,045 crore) through sustainability-linked loans from international banks to finance its capital expenditure and reduce its carbon footprint.
Vodafone Idea
Crisis-ridden telco Vodafone Idea on Tuesday said its board has approved an issue of optionally convertible debentures of up to Rs 1,600 crore to vendor American Tower Corporation. After a board of directors meeting, the company in a regulatory filing said that it will convene an extraordinary general meeting on February 25 to seek shareholders’ nod for the same. Fresh approval was necessitated as the nod granted by the shareholders had lapsed.
