Will only produce medical oxygen: Sterlite Copper

Vedanta-owned Sterlite Copper on Tuesday said it was committed to making its entire production capacity available for the sole purpose of producing medical-grade oxygen at its two oxygen plants inside the now closed copper smelter in Thoothukudi.

The company said it will reactivate the oxygen plant at the earliest, with the support of employees and local communities. In a statement, the company thanked the Supreme Court, State & Central governments and members of civil society for supporting their request to serve the nation's urgent needs.

“We have put together a plan towards achieving a safe, sustainable roadmap to activating our oxygen manufacturing facilities. We will extend our full cooperation to the oversight committee that will be set up under the guidance of the Hon'ble Supreme Court,” the statement read.

“We are focused on swiftly meeting the critical need for oxygen in keeping with all necessary precautions and urgency. We are committed to making the entire production capacity available only for the purpose of producing medical-grade oxygen, and are already working with experts on how best to resolve the logistics of dispatching this to critical areas as per the needs of the government,” the statement added.