MUMBAI: Indian shares were little changed on Monday, with gains in consumer stocks offset by losses in metals, while global prices of copper and crude oil declined.
The NSE Nifty 50 index edged up 0.05 percent to 15,302.8 by 0516 GMT, while the S&P BSE Sensex was up 0.1 percent at 51,423.83.
Both indexes fell over 5 percent last week in their biggest weekly drop in two years.
Vedanta puts up for sale Indian copper smelter
India’s oil-to-metals conglomerate Vedanta Ltd. on Monday offered to sell a copper smelter complex in southern Tamil Nadu state that was closed four years ago after police opened fire during protests which culminated in 13 deaths.
Prospective buyers have until July 4 to submit expressions of interest, the company said, without giving financial details.
Vedanta’s 400,000 tons per annum copper smelter in the port city of Thoothukudi was ordered shut in May 2018 by the southern Tamil Nadu state, a week after the deadly protests that sought the plant’s closure for alleged pollution.
The incident, in which 12 protesters were shot dead and one died from other injuries, was condemned by a working group of UN’s human rights experts for the “excessive and disproportionate use of lethal force by police.”
Vedanta, which has repeatedly denied allegations of the smelter being polluting, has challenged Tamil Nadu state’s decision to permanently shut the smelter at the Supreme Court. The smelter was operated by its unit Sterlite Copper.
It is not clear when the Supreme Court will hear the case.
Air India in talks with Airbus and Boeing to buy 300 narrowbody jets
Air India is in discussions with Airbus and Boeing for the potential purchase of up to 300 narrowbody jets, industry sources said.
Airbus and Boeing declined to comment on the negotiations, earlier reported by Bloomberg.
(With input from Reuters)
