British mining giant Vedanta Resources' plan to operate a US$900 million refinery in eastern India hit a fresh obstacle on Friday when the Supreme Court set new conditions for the project.
Vedanta's battle to mine bauxite to feed the refinery in forests considered sacred by tribals is seen as a test case in India, pitting industrial development against the interests of locals and the environment.
The court refused to let the project in Orissa state proceed on the grounds it could hurt "sustainable development" but it offered Vedanta's Indian unit, Sterlite Industries, the chance to come up with a new plan.
The decision came just over two weeks after Norway's state pension fund withdrew US$13 million in investments in Vedanta, accusing it of "causing serious damage to people and to the environment" in India.
The court said it did not oppose the project in principle but that it needed to be assured of Vedanta's credibility as it had to protect the interests of future generations.
It said Vedanta would have to give around US$180 million in compensation for forest destruction, wildlife management and tribal development. Other conditions included handing over five percent of pre-tax profits annually from mining projects across India to the Orissa government to fund development.
The mining giant will also have to set up a "special purpose vehicle" with the Orissa state government to ensure the conditions are met, the court said.
Vedanta must file an interim application within eight weeks saying if it agrees to the conditions.
"We welcome the court's decision," said Babu Mathew, head of ActionAid India which opposes the mining plans.
But the group remained "very apprehensive" about the final outcome, saying mining operations would "cause irreversible ecological damage" and the "death and destruction of tribals," he said.
Vedanta has been fighting for three years for permission to open cast mine vast deposits of bauxite in the densely forested Niyamgiri hills to supply the refinery it has built nearby.
In the past, the company has denied any wrongdoing and argued the project would be welcomed by residents of the desperately poor region.
In a stinging 2005 report, an environmental panel set up by the Supreme Court accused Vedanta of blatantly violating environmental guidelines.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said that its investment plan in Arizona is going according to schedule, following a local media report claiming that the company is planning to break ground on its third wafer fab in the US in June. In a statement, TSMC said it does not comment on market speculation, but that its investments in Arizona are proceeding well. TSMC is investing more than US$65 billion in Arizona to build three advanced wafer fabs. The first one has started production using the 4-nanometer (nm) process, while the second one would start mass production using the
A TAIWAN DEAL: TSMC is in early talks to fully operate Intel’s US semiconductor factories in a deal first raised by Trump officials, but Intel’s interest is uncertain Broadcom Inc has had informal talks with its advisers about making a bid for Intel Corp’s chip-design and marketing business, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Nothing has been submitted to Intel and Broadcom could decide not to pursue a deal, according to the Journal. Bloomberg News earlier reported that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is in early talks for a controlling stake in Intel’s factories at the request of officials at US President Donald Trump’s administration, as the president looks to boost US manufacturing and maintain the country’s leadership in critical technologies. Trump officials raised the
‘SILVER LINING’: Although the news caused TSMC to fall on the local market, an analyst said that as tariffs are not set to go into effect until April, there is still time for negotiations US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he would likely impose tariffs on semiconductor, automobile and pharmaceutical imports of about 25 percent, with an announcement coming as soon as April 2 in a move that would represent a dramatic widening of the US leader’s trade war. “I probably will tell you that on April 2, but it’ll be in the neighborhood of 25 percent,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club when asked about his plan for auto tariffs. Asked about similar levies on pharmaceutical drugs and semiconductors, the president said that “it’ll be 25 percent and higher, and it’ll
CHIP BOOM: Revenue for the semiconductor industry is set to reach US$1 trillion by 2032, opening up opportunities for the chip pacakging and testing company, it said ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控), the world’s largest provider of outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) services, yesterday launched a new advanced manufacturing facility in Penang, Malaysia, aiming to meet growing demand for emerging technologies such as generative artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The US$300 million facility is a critical step in expanding ASE’s global footprint, offering an alternative for customers from the US, Europe, Japan, South Korea and China to assemble and test chips outside of Taiwan amid efforts to diversify supply chains. The plant, the company’s fifth in Malaysia, is part of a strategic expansion plan that would more than triple
RSS