Vedanta Resources

Vedanta Resources plc is a global diversified metals and mining company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest mining and non-ferrous metals company in India and has mining operations in Australia and Zambia and oil and gas operations in three countries. Its main products are copper, zinc, aluminium, lead, iron ore and petroleum. It is also developing commercial power stations in India in Odisha (2,400 MW) and Punjab (1,980 MW). The company is principally owned by Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal through Volcan Investments, a holding vehicle with a 61.7% stake in the business. According to the New York Times, Vedanta Resources is "known in some parts of the world for having left financial and environmental problems in their wake."

Vedanta is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

History

The company was founded in Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1976 by Anil Agarwal, who is also its Executive Chairman. Agarwal founded Sterlite Industries, a business operating in the industrial sector in 1976 and then in 1986 established Vedanta Resources bringing together a variety of businesses owned by the Agarwal family. It was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2003 when it raised $876 million through an Initial Public Offering. Meanwhile, in 2006 it acquired Sterlite Gold, a gold mining business. It raised an additional $2bn through an ADR issue in 2007. In 2008 it bought certain of the assets of Asarco, a copper mining business, out of Chapter 11 for $2.6bn. In December 2011 it announced the US$8.67 billion acquisition of Cairn India, a subsidiary of Cairn Energy, heralding its foray in the oil sector.