The welcome news that Vedanta has been fprced out of  the Kolli Hills has been somewhat over-shadowed by a decision, made in August by India’s Expert Appraisal Committee (Industry), but only just announced, that the company may double the capacity of its notorious Tuticorin copper smelter in the same state. Vedanta has also gained exemption from the holding of a public hearing, ostensibly because the expansion is within an existing industrial estate. Whether the expansion will go ahead in the near future is open to question. The copper market has been one of the worst to suffer from the commodity down-turn. Morever, the permit is hedged about with conditions which the company may find difficult to meet.