Vedanta Resources, the London-listed holding company, will sell its stake in three companies in India to its Indian subsidiary Sterlite Industries in an all-share deal, two people with direct knowledge of the development said.

Vedanta, owned by billionaire Anil Agarwal, will sell its 100% stake in Vedanta Aluminium, the 94.8% it owns in Madras Aluminum and its 38% stake in oil refiner Cairn Energy to Sterlite Industries to make its subsidiary a metal, mining and oil giant.

MD assures portfolio of aluminium, copper will help the company in difficult times

Aluminium, on the London Metal Exchange (LME), has been falling since the beginning of the year. So has been the core earnings of Hindalco Industries and in turn, the profits. The company maintains that its two businesses, aluminium and copper, complement each other well. D Bhattacharya, managing director, Hindalco Industries, says,

Hindustan Copper Limited and the Rajasthan Government propose to start joint ventures to explore and exploit copper and other mineral deposits in the State. The initiative is part of Hindustan Copper Limited's plan to consolidate its mining business, especially in Rajasthan.

The company is planning to execute as many as eight mining projects across the country at an estimated capital expenditure of Rs.3,435 crore to quadruple its mining capacity over the next five years,

Sterlite Copper has sponsored Rs 2.7 lakh towards a drinking water project at Vadakkusilukkanpatti.

Col. S. Krishnan handed over the confirmation letter to Collector Ashish Kumar, Collector, here on Friday. It has sponsored the project based on requests from the villagers as there is an acute shortage of water. The cost is Rs.8.1 lakh out of which Rs 2.7 lakh will be contributed by the company as people's contribution, according to its statement.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday, while permitting Sterlite Industries at Tuticorin to continue the operations at its copper plant, directed the company to file a fresh application before the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) for grant of consent to run the plant.

A Bench of Justice R.M. Lodha and Justice H.L. Gokhale, in its interim order, asked the company to file the application for renewal of the consent within 15 days and asked the Board to make an enquiry in accordance with law and pass orders within a month thereafter.

Three Chinese companies are part of consortiums that have bagged Rs 1,800-crore worth of five contracts awarded by state-owned Hindustan Copper to raise its production four-fold to 12 million tonnes over the next five years. While Chinese companies are already building steel plants in India, it will be the first time that they will be involved in developing domestic copper mines.

While permitting Sterlite Industries at Tuticorin to continue operations of its copper plant, the Supreme Court has directed the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) to issue notice to the industry for carrying out remedial measures and removing deficiencies within such time “it thinks reasonable and proper.”

A Bench of Justice R.V. Raveendran and Justice A.K. Patnaik in its interim order directed the Board to give such directions in two weeks.

Sterlite Industries expressed confidence that it will overcome the deficiencies listed out in the Supreme Court judgment.

Mr P. Ramnath, Chief Executive Officer, Sterlite Copper, said the company has proactively started implementing some of the recommendations in the Supreme Court ruling.

“The company has allocated additional funds to further fulfil the deficiency as mentioned in the order. We are quite hopeful that all the deficiency pointed out by the Supreme Court would be rectified by the end of the next year,” he added.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended its stay on the Madras High Court judgment ordering closure of the copper smelter plant of Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu.

Last October, the apex court had stayed the High Court order. The apex court will now hear the matter in January. The court has permitted the plant to be operational till then.

New Delhi In a major relief to Sterlite Industries, the Supreme Court on Tuesday stuck to its earlier stay order against the immediate closure of the company’s copper smelting plant at Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu. The closure was directed by the Madras High Court.

The HC had in September last year asked the London-listed Vedanta group company to shut down its plant and pay compensation to its workers for not complying with environmental norms.