Vedanta demerger proposal set to receive approvals soon: Anil Agarwal

Vedanta Group Chairman Anil Agarwal on Thursday said the company’s demerger proposal is in the final stages of receiving the necessary approvals. 

Agarwal, speaking at the company’s 60th Annual General Meeting, stated that each of the demerged businesses has the potential to grow into a $100 billion enterprise. Once implemented, for every share held in Vedanta Ltd, shareholders will receive one share in each of the four demerged companies. Vedanta Group plans to create separate entities focused on aluminium, oil and gas, power, iron and steel, and zinc and silver.

“Our demerger proposal has received support from over 99.5% of shareholders and creditors. This is a vote of confidence like no other,” said Agarwal. The AGM was held a day after US short-seller Viceroy Research released a report on Wednesday, calling the Agarwal-led British parent firm Vedanta Resources a “parasite” that is “systematically draining” its Indian subsidiary. In response, officials at Vedanta Ltd strongly denied the allegations, stating that the report offered no new findings that should concern investors.

Agarwal said Hindustan Zinc is investing `12,000 crore to set up a 250,000 tonne integrated smelting complex, calling it a key part of the company’s 2x growth vision.