--- title: India Closes Copper Plant in the Wake of Deadly Protests description: Authorities shut a British-owned copper smelting plant in southern India just days after 13 protesters were killed in a police crackdown canonical: https://time.com/5293472/vedanta-resources-copper-plant-india-close-protests/ author: Laignee Barron article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-05-29T04:00:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T20:24:22.250Z article:section: World og:title: India Closes Copper Plant In The Wake Of Deadly Protests og:description: For 20 years, residents have campaigned against the facility over air and water pollution og:url: https://time.com/5293472/vedanta-resources-copper-plant-india-close-protests/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt91d08c8ca1be4d81/698931a9cf40a84125c4c586/gettyimages-962144440.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Activists Protest Against The Killing Of Protestors At Tuticorin og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: India Closes Copper Plant In The Wake Of Deadly Protests twitter:description: For 20 years, residents have campaigned against the facility over air and water pollution twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt91d08c8ca1be4d81/698931a9cf40a84125c4c586/gettyimages-962144440.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # India Permanently Closes Copper Plant in the Wake of Deadly Protests by [Laignee Barron](/author/laignee-barron/) ## Laignee Barron May 29, 2018 4:00 AM CUT  Demonstrators protest against a copper smelting plant in Tamil Nadu, India on May 24, 2018. Demonstrators protest against a copper smelting plant in Tamil Nadu, India on May 24, 2018.Arijit Sen—Hindustan Times/Getty Images by [Laignee Barron](/author/laignee-barron/) ## Laignee Barron May 29, 2018 4:00 AM CUT Authorities shuttered a British-owned copper smelting plant in southern India on Monday, just days after 13 people were killed in a police crackdown on protests against the facility. Edappadi K Palaniswami, the chief minister of the Indian state Tamil Nadu, ordered the closure of the 22-year-old plant, which is operated by Sterlite, a subsidiary of London-based Vedanta Resources, Reuters reports. “We have taken a decision to permanently shut down the plant,” Palaniswami said. The decision was celebrated by environmentalists and residents who have campaigned for more than two decades against the facility, citing air and water pollution. The company operating the plant denies polluting. However, in 2013, following complaints of a gas leak and concerns over its emissions, the plant was [fined](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-21999901 "undefined") 1 billion rupees ($18.4 million). Muthu Pandi, a driver who joined the crowd of nearly 100 locals who came to see the plant being shut on Monday, told Reuters, “We are finally free.” As the smelter’s main entrance was being sealed, Fatima Babu, a long-time campaigner, arrived shouting, “Thank you authorities.” Since March, the smelter, which is India’s second-biggest, has been shut for maintenance. It was subsequently denied an operating license over failure to observe environmental regulations, but was scheduled to reopen in June with plans to double its capacity. Instead, the 100 days of mostly peaceful protests against the planned expansion escalated last Tuesday when police [opened fire](http://time.com/5288153/india-copper-plant-protest-killed/ "undefined") on demonstrators marching toward a government office. Ten protesters died in that shooting, while three more died in the following days, prompting national and international outrage. In a statement, Vedanta told Reuters it would have to study the order to close “and decide on the future course of action.” The chief of Vedanta’s India copper business, P. Ramnath, told Reuters last week that the company would legally fight any attempt to shut down the plant ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5293472/vedanta-resources-copper-plant-india-close-protests/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5293472/vedanta-resources-copper-plant-india-close-protests/"},"headline":"India Permanently Closes Copper Plant in the Wake of Deadly Protests","datePublished":"2018-05-29T04:00:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T20:24:22.250Z","description":"Environmentalists and residents have campaigned for more than two decades against the facility","url":"https://time.com/5293472/vedanta-resources-copper-plant-india-close-protests/","keywords":["India","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt91d08c8ca1be4d81/698931a9cf40a84125c4c586/gettyimages-962144440.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Laignee Barron","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/laignee-barron/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt91d08c8ca1be4d81/698931a9cf40a84125c4c586/gettyimages-962144440.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Activists Protest Against The Killing Of Protestors At Tuticorin","caption":"Activists Protest Against The Killing Of Protestors At Tuticorin","creditText":"Arijit Sen—Hindustan Times/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/india/","name":"India"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5293472/vedanta-resources-copper-plant-india-close-protests/","name":"India Permanently Closes Copper Plant in the Wake of Deadly Protests"}}]}] ```