Vedanta Resources said on Tuesday its application to renew operations at a copper smelting plant in the South Indian town of Thootukudi was rejected.
The rejection comes amid almost daily protests by the people of Thootukudi against Vedanta's plans to increase the capacity of the smelter, one of India's largest, to 800 000 t/y.
Vedanta said the application was rejected for want of more clarifications and that it was evaluating further course of action.
The company said the scheduled maintenance activity, supposed to be for about 15 days from March 27, is now likely to be extended.
The copper smelter in the state of Tamil Nadu, run by Vedanta's Sterlite Copper unit, has been a target of protesters, who call it a major source of pollution and a risk to fisheries.