The Supreme Court today asked Sterlite Industries, a subsidiary of UK-based Vedanta Group, to pay 100 crore Rs as compensation for polluting environment through its copper smelting plant in Tamil Nadu .The apex court however refused to direct its closure.
A bench headed by Justice A K Patnaik said that the environment has been polluted for a long time due to the discharge from the plant of the multinational company and it has to pay compensation.Imposing the compensation on the company, the bench said, amount less than 100 crore rupees would not have the desired impact .