Shares of Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Ltd shimmered about 5 percent in intraday deals on Monday amid reports that Tamil Nadu chief minister K Palaniswami has allowed the company to operate its Tuticorin plant to produce oxygen amid sharp surge in Covid-19 cases in the country.

At closing, Vedanta stock settled 3.84 percent higher at Rs 236.75 apiece on the NSE as against  147 points rise in the benchmark NSE Nifty, while Sensex settled at 48381.50, up by 508 points.

In order to deal with the Oxygen crisis amid the pandemic, the Tamil Nadu government on Monday permitted Vedanta's sealed Sterlite Industries in Tuticorin to operate for the production of medical oxygen for a four-month period. The approval has been given in view of the depleting oxygen reserves amid the massive spread of the coronavirus cases.

Last week, in a letter to Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, Sterlite Copper CEO Pankaj Kumar wrote that the company was open to support the nation’s needs and meet the rising demand for oxygen. The company also informed that it has filed a petition in the Supreme Court to this end, since the plant’s permission to operate is sub-judice. The company added that it had also written to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, K Palaniswami, the state’s chief secretary, and other secretaries in the government in connection to its request.

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