Thoothukudi, India – She spearheaded a decades-long campaign against a copper smelter over alleged environmental contamination in the south Indian seaside town of Thoothukudi.
Sterlite Copper, the Indian subsidiary of Vedanta Resources, a global mining and metals conglomerate, was forced to shut its plant in 2018, thanks to a sustained and spirited fight led by 67-year-old teacher-turned activist Fatima Babu.
The plant’s shuttering, said Fatima, “has boosted the morale of the townspeople, which is a very very big thing for us”. “But we would want Sterlite to pay for the damage it has done.”
On May 22, 2018, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Thoothukudi against a proposed expansion of Sterlite’s 400,000-tonne annual capacity smelter, but the police opened fire, killing at least 13 protesters. It was the deadliest environmental protest of the year in the country. The police justified their action saying the protesters pelted stones and burned their
How Tamil Nadu has sustained industrial investment growth despite Covid-19
How Tamil Nadu has sustained industrial investment growth despite Covid-19 | India Today Insight
The state has been aggressively wooing business investments over the past year
advertisement
UPDATED: January 6, 2021 20:19 IST
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E K Palaniswami at the 72nd birth anniversary celebrations of late AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa, February 24, 2020 (Phtoo by Jaison G)
Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, lockdown and other uncertainties, Tamil Nadu has swung mega ticket deals in various sectors through 2020 to live up to its image as a favourite investment destination. Even as the state heads into an election year, it has managed to bag huge investments with the government stepping up efforts to attract investments by forming committees under chief secretary K. Shanmugham and former RBI governor C. Rangarajan.
TN realises more than 82 per cent of investment MoUs
December 30, 2020 The conversion rate of MoUs into actual projects during the last ten years was 82.4 per cent in Tamil Nadu.
Between 2011 and 2019, the State government had signed 500 MoUs envisaging investment commitment of ₹5.97-lakh crore. Out of these, 412 MoU projects have either commenced commercial production or are in various stages of implementation representing a conversion rate of 82.4 per cent, said a State government statement.
The conversion rate of 98 MoUs signed during GIM (Global Investor Meet) 2015 was 72 per cent and that of the 304 MoUs signed during GIM 2019 was 89 per cent.
The conversion rate refers to projects that have commenced commercial production or are in various stages of implementation such as purchase of land, application for clearances or trial production, as a percentage of the total number of MoU projects, the statement said.
The Tamil Nadu Government has said that the conversion rate of MoUs with investors into actual projects during the last 10 years has been about 82.4 per cent. The conversion rate of 98 MoUs signed during Global Investors Meet (GIM) 2015 was 72 per cent, while that of 304 MoUs signed during GIM 2019 was 89 per cent. The conversion rate refers to projects that have commenced commercial production or are at various stages of implementation (such as purchase of land, application for clearances or trial production) as a percentage of the total number of MoU projects, said the State Industries Department. It refuted reports that only 9.4 per cent of the investment proposals in the state were actually converted to projects in the past 10 years.
Time for vertical green belts
×
One recurrent theme in the whole legal fracas around whether Sterlite Industries is polluting or not, has been that of the ‘green belt’. Sterlite’s detractors get worked up about the state regulator, Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, going against its own thumb rule of a green belt of 250 meters and reducing it to 25 meters for Sterlite. This point has come up before the courts repeatedly.
However, it should be noted that the extent of the ‘green belt’ cannot be a number set in stone. A greenbelt is not a park. It is an external pollution-reducing entity, which is known to