Sterlite is permanently closed: D Jayakumar

Dismissing the pro-Sterlite tweets from Baba Ramdev and Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev as of no consequence, senior minister D. Jaya kumar on Thursday reiterated that the copper smelter unit at Thoothukudi “is permanently closed and it’s our firm stand”. “There is no room for reconsideration. Our stand is that Sterlite unit is closed permanently”, the minister said at a media interaction, where he was asked to comment on the tweets by Yoga guru Ramdev and Isha Sadhguru advocating that the closure of Sterlite was not proper. “That may be their view, we don’t care. See, already we have closed it and it’s permanent”, said the minister. The Thoothukudi copper smelter unit of Sterlite, which is part of the global metal giant Vedanta Group, was closed down by the state government following protests by locals alleging pollution of air and groundwater. The agitation turned violent on its 100th day on May 22, leading to police firing that killed 13 protesters.