Sterlite employs about 3, 000 people in Tamil Nadu, including about 1, 000 at the smelter.

BBC: Sterlite Industries plant

In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Ms Jayalalitha said people in Tamil Nadu had been angered by "barbaric acts" against Sri Lankan Tamils.

BBC: IPL cricket: India's Tamil Nadu bars Sri Lanka players

Despite this, it has already set aside money from sales to fund water projects, including one in a village of 10, 000 people in the Tamil Nadu region of India, where Belu has created four sources of water for the town, sanitation blocks for children and hygiene education.

CNN: Eco-friendly bottle for ethical water

Last month, at least five people were killed in Tamil Nadu after a tropical cyclone swept across the state.

BBC: Southern India cyclone fizzles out

Kerala now says the dam is too old and dilapidated and poses immense danger to millions of people living in the region and that it needs to be destroyed and rebuilt - a move opposed by Tamil Nadu.

BBC: Official poster of Dam999