Aftermath and impact
On 28 October 2018, Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board reported that the sulphur-dioxide levels in the air had reduced significantly after the Sterlite plant's closure.[33] TNPCB also confirmed an improved Air Quality Index.[34]
As it was classified as a red category, the district administration has maintained the smelter premises since its closure. On 22 March 2019, the company submitted an affidavit to the Madras High Court, claiming the damage of inr 1000000000, which was caused due to negligence in maintaining the premises by the district authorities.[35]
Three years after closure of Sterlite, A 2022 study conducted by the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok and National Institute of Technology, Jamshedpur, indicated no significant change in the air quality and sulfur dioxide contribution to pollution in Thoothukudi before and after the closure of the smelter in 2018,.[36] While the closure of Sterlite caused immediate noticeable improvement in air quality by TNPCB, another study conducted by Anna University and the Centre for Climate Change and Adaptation Research confirmed that the road dust and vehicular emission as major factors contributing for the dust, causing poor air quality and make tuticorin already unsustainable .[37]
In June 2019, Mint reported that the company faced a loss of about $200 million in profits ever since its copper smelter plant got closed.[38] Around 20,000 people lost their jobs, who were employed by the company due to the shutting of the smelter and about 98,400 people were affected in the consumer or downstream industries. The plant's closure also caused a cascading effect on the supply chain of chemicals and the associated industries that operate using products of Sterlite Copper.[35][39]
According to commerce ministry data, it impacted India's industrial metal exports and led to becoming a net importer beginning 2018-19.[40][41] In March 2021, in a written response in the Lok Sabha, Pralhad Joshi, the Minister of Mines, Coal and Parliamentary Affairs, informed the lower house that the plant's closure has affected the domestic production of refined copper. The copper production of India dropped to 410,000 tonnes in 2019-20 from 830,000 tonnes in 2017-18 and the refined copper output in 2018-19 was 450,000 tonnes.[42]
In 2021 and 2022, controversially it was also reported that petitions were filed by some villagers, fishermen and a few local organizations demanding the reopening of Sterlite Copper including the victims of police firing on anti-Sterlite protests.[43][44][45][42]
While the Justice Aruna Jagadeesan Commission did not find any "direct evidence" that points to the involvement of either Sterlite Industries, as claimed by a few activist groups, or any outfit, as alleged by the then government and a few individuals such as actor Rajinikanth, in the violence of 22 May 2018, it is clear state government, three Tahsildars, 17 police personnel and the then District Collector, N Venkatesh co-ordinated inaction, lethargy, complacency and dereliction of duty.[46]
