Throwback to Sterlite controversy: Vedanta-Foxconn’s Rs 1.54 lakh crore chip plant is Gujarat’s gain, Tamil Nadu’s loss

New Delhi: Vedanta on Tuesday confirmed that it will be establishing a semi-conductor plant in Gujarat in collaboration with Taiwan’s electronic manufacturing giant Foxconn.

This is the biggest investment by any company in an Indian state.

However, many are calling this move Tamil Nadu’s loss. Here’s why-

Earlier this year, Vedanta put its copper plant in Tamil Nadu’s Thoothikudi on sale. The plant owned by Sterlite Copper, a Vedanta subsidiary had been shut since May 2018.

At the time of its closure, the plant employed 5,000 people directly, and another 25,000 indirectly, Mint reported.

Tamil Nadu’s loss is Gujarat’s gain in this case. Foxconn has a base in TN for over a decade. Could have considered TN for sure. But Vedanta has been hounded in TN because of #Sterlite. They wouldn’t dream of investing here. https://t.co/pNz0ZXqc7D

— Sumanth Raman (@sumanthraman) September 13, 2022

The closure was preceded by deadly protests.

2018 Thoothukudi protests

The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board had given permission for the establishment of the plant in 1994. However, the locals including fishermen demanded its closure due to alleged pollution.

In 2018, massive protests erupted against the plant over Sterlite’s plan to increase the production capacity from 400,000 to 800,000 tonnes per year.

In February that year, hundreds of demonstrators blocked the plant’s gate.

Sterlite responded to the protests by saying that it got the necessary permission to expand the plant.

Matters became severely tense on 22 May 2018 when protesters organised an anti-Sterlite march.

According to some reports, the crowd eventually grew to 20,000. Protesters hurled stones at the outnumbered police personnel deployed on the spot.

The cops resorted by firing teargas and eventually fired live ammunition. At least 13 protesters were killed and over 100 injured.

Later that year, the CBI filed cases against police personnel and they were charged with disobeying the law with the intention to cause injury to people.

With inputs from agencies

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