Top Section
Explore Business Standard
Don’t miss the latest developments in business and finance.
In a setback to billionaire Anil Agarwal's mining group, the government has opposed Vedanta Ltd's proposal to sell its international zinc business to Hindustan Zinc Ltd for USD 2.98 billion over concerns of valuation. The government has threatened to take legal action to stop the sale of the Africa-based assets to HZL, in which it holds a 29.54 per cent stake. In a letter to HZL, posted by the company to stock exchanges, the Ministry of Mines said the deal is a "related party transaction" and the government would "like to reiterate'' its dissent. HZL in January agreed to buy THL Zinc Ltd Mauritius from its parent, Vedanta Ltd, for USD 2.98 billion in phases over 18 months. Vedanta holds a 64.92 per cent equity share of Hindustan Zinc ltd (HZL), which is an integrated producer of zinc, lead and silver. HZL in a separate filing said it would place the ministry's letter before the board and that a meeting of the shareholders to approve the deal was yet to be called. The Rajasthan-ba
The Vedanta group firm Hindustan Zinc (HZL), which is the world's second-largest manufacturer of the metal, is planning to invest over USD 1 billion (around Rs 8,270 crore) to convert its diesel-fired mining vehicles into battery-operated ones and also to fully turn a green energy user, over the next five years. The Udaipur-based company, which is also the sole manufacturer of silver and the largest maker of zinc and lead in the country, is already running four of its 900 mining vehicles on battery on a pilot basis. The company with an annual production of 1 million tonne zinc, up from 1 lakh tonne when it was privatized by the government in 2002, also expects stable demand in the March quarter despite the growing fears of a global recession, its chief executive Arun Misra told PTI over the weekend. The government still owns 29 per cent in the cash-rich HZL and has three board members as well. On this, Misra said he recently met the government officials in New Delhi and the full ...
Oil-to-metals conglomerate Vedanta Ltd on Wednesday said that it will not prune its USD 2 billion capex target for the current financial year despite falling metal prices. Vedanta has planned a total investment of around USD 2 billion in its zinc, oil and gas, and aluminium businesses in FY23. "We are going ahead (with the capex target for the current fiscal). We cannot stop the project in between and these are all the brownfield projects where the returns are very good and this will make our operation more effective, more productive, more efficient," Vedanta's Chief Executive Officer Sunil Duggal said. Duggal told reporters here on the sidelines of the second day of the conference on the Indian minerals and metals industry organised by NMDC and FICCI. The metal prices, Duggal said, have come down on account of various geopolitical events. Asked whether the metal prices will shoot up in the coming days, he replied, "If the fundamentals are strong than naturally the prices are goin