Sterlite Copper oxygen plant develops technical snag; production halted

Chennai, May 14: Vedanta Ltd owned SterliteCopper Plant which recently, commenced production of medicaloxygen at its facility in Tamil Nadu has faced a technicalsnag in a cold box leading to a suspension of production, thecompany said on Friday.

The facility began production of medical oxygen andthe first set of medical oxygen tankers was dispatched to thebeneficiaries on Thursday from the Tuticorin plant, locatedabout 600 kms from here.

In a statement on Friday, the company said, “atechnical snag has developed in the cold box at our oxygenplant in Tuticorin, leading to a temporary pause inproduction.” The company said it anticipated a minor technicalfluctuation since the plant remained unattended for threeyears.

A technical expert group has been onsite from day oneto monitor the situation and to provide real-time solutions toresume production at the earliest.

“We plan to return to stabilised production soon,” thecompany said.

On Thursday, the company said with the production ofmedical oxygen, it would initially dispatch two oxygen tankerson a daily basis and later it would be scaled up by rampingup production.

The oxygen supplied is of 98.6 per cent purity and hasreceived the necessary certifications for its use.

The Sterlite copper smelter plant was given approvalby the then AIADMK government on April 26 at an all-partymeeting to produce medical oxygen at its facility for a periodof four months at the facility in Tuticorin.

The unit was sealed by the state government in May2018, days after 13 agitators who were part of a protestagainst the company over environmental concerns were killed inpolice firing during a violent anti-Sterlite stir in thesouthern district.PTI VIJ SSPTI PTI

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