Formerly | Angelchange Limited |
---|---|
Company type | Private limited company |
ISIN | INE205A01025 |
Industry | Mining |
Founded | 22 April 2003 as Angelchange Limited [1] |
Founder | Anil Agarwal |
Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people |
|
Products | Copper, Aluminum, Zinc, Lead, Gold, Iron ore, Pig iron, Metallurgical Coke and Oil and gas exploration, Power |
Revenue | US$18.141 billion (2023) [2] |
US$3.018 billion (2023) [2] | |
US$838 million (2023) [2] | |
Total assets | US$23.430 billion (2023) [2] |
Total equity | US$−872 million (2023) [2] |
Owner | Anil Agarwal |
Number of employees | 20,447 (2020) [2] |
Subsidiaries | [3] |
Website | www |
Vedanta Resources Limited is a diversified 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 [4] and oil and gas operations in three countries. Its main products are Zinc, Lead, Silver, Oil & Gas, Iron Ore, Steel, Aluminium and Power. [4] [5] It has also developed commercial power stations in India in Odisha (2,400 MW) and Punjab (1,980 MW). [6]
The company with 20,000 employees is primarily owned by the family of Anil Agarwal through Volcan Investments, a holding vehicle with a 61.7% stake in the business. [7] Vedanta limited (formerly Sesa Goa / Sterlite) is one of the many Indian subsidiaries of Vedanta resources and operates iron ore mines in Goa. [8]
Vedanta was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index until chairman, Anil Agarwal's offer to take the company private went unconditional in September 2018.
The company was founded in Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1976 by Anil Agarwal, as a scrap-metal dealership. [9] In 1979, he acquired the Shamsher Sterling Corporation (subsequently renamed Sterlite Industries), a manufacturer of power and control cables. [10]
The company acquired a majority stake in Balco, the Indian state aluminium business, in 2001. [11] It was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2003 when, as Vedanta Resources, it raised US$876 million through an initial public offering. [12]
In 2006, Vedanta acquired Sterlite Gold, a gold mining business, [13] and in 2007, Vedanta Resources bought a 51% stake in Sesa Goa, India's largest producer-exporter of iron ore, and the company became listed on NYSE with a US$2 billion ADS issue. [14] [15]
In 2008, Vedanta bought certain of the assets of Asarco, a copper mining business, out of Chapter 11 for US$2.6 billion. [16] and in 2010, it acquired Anglo-American's portfolio of Zinc assets in South Africa, Namibia and Ireland. [17]
In 2011, Vedanta acquired 58.5% controlling stake in Cairn India, India's largest private sector oil & gas company [18] [19] and in 2013, Sterlite Industries and Sesa Goa announced a merger. The merger took place in August 2013 and the consolidated group was then called Sesa Sterlite Ltd (now Vedanta Limited). [20] In June 2018, Vedanta acquired 90% stake in Electrosteel Steels, a steel producer. [21]
In September 2018, the company announced that Anil Agarwal would be taking Vedanta Resources private on 1 October 2018. [22]
Sterlite Industries (India): Sterlite is registered office headquartered in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, India. Sterlite has been a public listed company in India since 1988, and its equity shares are listed and traded on the NSE and the BSE, and are also listed and traded on the NYSE in the form of ADSs. Vedanta owns 53.9% of Sterlite and has management control of the company. Protest by Public of Tuticorin started for not following Environmental Clearance Issues. The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) accused the factory of releasing noxious gas in the air. It said sulphur-dioxide levels had gone off the charts on the night of 23 March in the year 2013. It showed a reading of 2939.55 mg/cubic metre against the prescribed limit of 1250 mg/ cubic metre more people where affected by cancer and other breathing disorders but the Indian government did not take any action. [23]
Konkola Copper Mines: Vedanta owns 79.4% of KCM's share capital and have management control of the company. KCM's other shareholder is ZCCM Investment Holdings plc. The government of Zambia has a controlling stake in ZCCM Investment Holdings plc. [24]
Copper Mines of Tasmania: CMT is headquartered in Queenstown, Tasmania. Sterlite owns 100.0% of CMT and has management control of the company. [25]
Hindustan Zinc: HZL is headquartered in Udaipur in the state of Rajasthan. HZL's equity shares are listed and traded on the NSE and BSE. Sterlite owns 64.9% of the share capital in HZL and has management control. Sterlite has a call option to acquire the government of India's remaining ownership interest. [26]
Vedanta's iron ore mining operations in India are operated under the umbrella of Vedanta Limited, a company headquartered in Panaji, India. It has mining operations in Goa and Karnataka. [27] Originally founded as Sesa Goa, a Portuguese company, Sesa Goa was purchased by Vedanta (then known as Sterlite industries) in the 1990s. As of 30 June 2018, the company is owned 50% by the promoters (under the names of 12 members of the Agarwal family) and 50% by the public. This includes ownership by and "Westglobe limited", "Twinstar holdings", Finsider international and mutual funds (ICICI Prudential), foreign portfolio investors (17%), LIC India (6%) and Citibank New York (4%). [28]
Sterlite Energy: Sterlite Energy is headquartered in Mumbai. Sterlite owns 100.0% of Sterlite Energy and has management control of the company. [29]
In 1992, Anil Agarwal created the Vedanta Foundation as the vehicle through which the group companies would carry out their philanthropic programs and activities. In the financial year 2013–14, the Vedanta group companies and the Vedanta foundation invested US$49.0 million in building hospitals, schools and infrastructure, conserving the environment and funding community programs that improve health, education and livelihood of over 4.1 million people. [30] The initiatives were undertaken in partnership with the government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Among his inspirations, Agarwal counts Andrew Carnegie and David Rockefeller who built public works with their fortunes, and Bill Gates. The activities funded by his philanthropy are focused on child welfare, women empowerment and education. Anil Agarwal was ranked second in Hurun India Philanthropy List 2014 for his personal donation of ₹1,796 crore (about US$36 million). He was ranked 25th in the Hurun India Rich List with a personal fortune of ₹12,316 crore. [31] [32]
In 2015, the Vedanta group in partnership with Ministry for Women and Child development inaugurated the first "Nand Ghar" or modern anganwadi, of the 4,000 planned to set up. [33] Agarwal has pledged to donate 75% of his family's wealth to charity, saying he was inspired by Bill Gates. [34]
Vedanta has been criticised by human rights and activist groups, including Survival International, Amnesty International and Niyamgiri Surakshya Samiti because of the company's operations in Niyamgiri hills in Odisha, India that are said to threaten the lives of the Dongria Kondh people who populate this region. [35] The Niyamgiri hills are also claimed to be an important wildlife habitat in Eastern Ghats of India as per a report by the Wildlife Institute of India [36] as well as independent reports/studies carried out by civil society groups. [37] In January 2009, thousands of locals formed a human chain around the hill in protest at the plans to start bauxite mining in the area. [38] The Union Environment Ministry in August 2010 rejected earlier clearances granted to a joint venture led by the Vedanta Group company Sterlite Industries for mining bauxite from Niyamgiri hills. [39]
Vedanta's Alumina Refinery in Lanjigarh was criticised by the Orissa State Pollution Control Board (the statutory environmental regulation body) for air pollution and water pollution in the area. According to Amnesty International, local people reported dust, allegedly from the plant, settling on clothes, crops and food. Vedanta officials claimed there was no dust pollution from the plant at all. [40] An environmental inspection of the plant reported water pollution by the plant including a small increase of the pH value of the river Vamshadhara below the refinery and a high level of SPM in the stack emissions. [41]
In October 2009 it was reported that the British government has criticised Vedanta for its treatment of the Dongria Kondh tribe in Orissa, India. [42] The company refused to co-operate with the British government and with an OECD investigation. It has rejected charges of environmental damage, saying it may be related to the increased use of fertiliser by farmers. [40]
It was reported in August 2015 that villagers in Chingola, Zambia can smell and taste toxic pollution/leaks from the largest copper mine in Africa owned by KCM. [43]
Vedanta Resources was ranked as "the worst of the 12 biggest diversified miners at reducing emissions and planning for climate change", according to the Digging Deep report (CDP). [44]
A chimney under construction by Gannon Dunkerley & Company at the Balco smelter in Korba, Chhattisgarh collapsed on 23 September 2009, killing at least 40 workers. [45] Balco and GDCL management have been accused of negligence in the incident. [46]
On 17 November 2020, a mining-related "geotechnical incident" caused a landslide at the Gamsberg Mine in South Africa and 10 miners became trapped; with mining halted, eight miners were rescued, one died and one body was missing. [47] On 18 January 2021, the company confirmed that mining operations had resumed. [48]
In respect of bauxite mines at Lanjigarh, Orissa, public interest litigations were filed in 2004 by Indian non-government organisations led by the People's Union for Civil Liberties to the supreme court sub-committee regarding the potential environmental impact of the mines. The Ministry of Environment and Forests received reports from expert organisations and has submitted its recommendations to the supreme court. The sub-committee has found "blatant violations" of environmental regulations and grave concerns about the impact of the Niyamgiri mine on both the environment and the local tribal population. The committee recommended to the court that mining in such an ecologically sensitive area should not be permitted. [49]
In February 2010, the Church of England decided to disinvest from the company on ethical grounds. [50]
The Director of Survival International, Stephen Corry, said, "The Church’s unprecedented and very welcome decision sends a strong signal to companies that trample on tribal peoples' rights: we will not bankroll your abuses. Anybody that has shares in Vedanta should sell them today if they care about human rights." [51]
Vedanta responded by expressing disappointment at the church's actions, and that it is "fully committed to pursuing its investments in a responsible manner, respecting the environment and human rights". [40]
The NGO Amnesty International has also criticised the company's record on human rights. [40] [52] It has said, "[I]t is clear that Vedanta Resources and its subsidiaries [...] have failed to respect the human rights of the people of Lanjigarh and the Niyamgiri Hills" adding, "The proposed bauxite mine [...] threatens the survival of a protected Indigenous community [...] However, these risks have been largely ignored and consultation with and disclosure of information to affected communities have been almost non-existent." [53]
Several shareholders sold their shares because of human rights concerns. This includes the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, the Marlborough Ethical Fund, Millfield House Foundation and PGGM. [54] The Economic Times criticised the project in an editorial, stating that if the mine goes ahead it will "impoverish a defenceless populace, perhaps to extinction." [55] In July 2010, the Chief Secretary of the Indian state of Orissa ordered a new investigation into the rights of the Dongria Kondh tribe affected by Vedanta Resources' bauxite mine, in what Survival International characterised as the "...third major blow to Vedanta in a month". [56]
A four-member panel set up by the government of India in the Ministry of Environment and Forests investigated the bauxite mining proposal over Niyamgiri near Lanjigarh in the districts of Kalahandi and Rayagada in Orissa. The area has been the traditional habitat of two particularly vulnerable tribal groups, the Dongria Kondh and the Kutia Kondh. The committee submitted its report on 16 August 2010, saying "The Vedanta Company has consistently violated the Forest Conservation Act [FCA], the Forest Rights Act [FRA], the Environment Protection Act [EPA] and the Orissa Forest Act in active collusion with the State officials. Allowing mining by depriving two primitive tribal groups of their rights over the proposed mining site to benefit a private company would shake the faith of the tribal people in the laws of the land ". [57] Based on a panel report, the government of India has served a show cause notice on the company on why its Stage I environment clearance should not be cancelled. [58]
In October 2017, London's Court of Appeal in the case of Lungowe v Vedanta Resources plc ruled that nearly 2,000 Zambians could sue Vedanta Resources plc as a parent company in English courts over alleged pollution of their village. [59] [51] [40] [39] In concluding the same litigation in 2019, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom confirmed that Vedanta could be sued in England concerning business liability for human rights violations and environmental damage. [60] [61]
In July 2010, Sterlite Industries, a subsidiary of Vedanta Group, received a tax notice of about ₹3.24 billion (US$41 million), and was charged with violating several rules by the excise department in India. [62] Excise officials charged Sterlite Industries with misdeclaration because the company is alleged to have tried shipping out copper waste for the purpose of separating gold and silver when the waste also contained other precious metals like platinum and palladium. [63] Vendanta also owes the Income Tax Department ₹10,247 crore as retrospective tax as of January 2014. [64]
Vedanta Limited is an Indian multinational mining company headquartered in Mumbai, with its main operations in iron ore, gold and aluminium mines in Goa, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Odisha.
Bicholim, is a small town and a municipal council in North Goa district in the state of Goa, India. It is the headquarters of the Concelho (county) of Bicholim, one of seven that make up the Novas Conquistas, territories added to Goa comparatively later than the first three of the Velhas Conquistas. The town is located about 30 km (19 mi) from the state capital of Panaji. It is in the mining heartland of Goa.
Kalahandi district is a district of western Odisha in India.
Khonds are an indigenous Adivasi tribal community in India. Traditionally hunter-gatherers, they are divided into the hill-dwelling Khonds and plain-dwelling Khonds for census purposes, but the Khonds themselves identify by their specific clans. Khonds usually hold large tracts of fertile land, but still practice hunting, gathering, and slash-and-burn agriculture in the forests as a symbol of their connection to, and as an assertion of their ownership of the forests wherein they dwell. Khonds speak the Kui language and write it in the Odia script.
Vedanta University is a proposed, private, multi-disciplinary, co-educational university to be started by Anil Agarwal of Vedanta Resources corporation near Puri-Konark highway, Odisha, India. In July 2009, the government of Odisha passed a landmark bill to allow this massive university to be set up and function with autonomy. According to news reports and as of September 2010, there were no clear plans regarding the establishment of this proposed University. However, in late April 2015 a revival of the project was initiated; The ex-Chief Secretary of Odisha, Mr. Bijay Patnaik, was hired as the President of the Vedanta University Project to revive this project.
The mining industry in India is a major economic activity which contributes significantly to the economy of India. The gross domestic product (GDP) contribution of the mining industry varies from 2.2% to 2.5% only but going by the GDP of the total industrial sector, it contributes around 10% to 11%. Even mining done on small scale contributes 6% to the entire cost of mineral production. Indian mining industry provides job opportunities to around 700,000 individuals.
Anil Agarwal, known professionally as "metal king," is an Indian billionaire businessman who is the founder and chairman of Vedanta Resources Limited. He controls Vedanta Resources through Volcan Investments, a holding vehicle with a 100% stake in the business.
Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd. (BALCO) was an Indian government owned aluminium producer under Ministry of Mines, Government of India. In 2000, the Ministry of Mines, Government of India sold it to Vedanta Resources when Atal Bihari Vajpayee-Bharatiya Janta Party-National Democratic Alliance-led-government was in power. BALCO was incorporated in the year 1965 as a central public sector unit (CPSU) and it was the central government-establishment until 2001, when it was taken over by Vedanta Resources, a company listed on the London Stock Exchange. The government company has been closely associated with the Indian Aluminium Industry, in a pivotal role. Mr. Rajesh Kumar is the current CEO & Whole Time Director of the company.
Sterlite Copper is a subsidiary of Sterlite industries, a company owned by Vedanta Limited.
Hindustan Zinc Limited (HZL) is an Indian integrated mining and resources producer of zinc, lead, silver and cadmium. It is a subsidiary of Vedanta Limited. Earlier it was a Central Public Sector Undertaking, sold by Government of India to Vedanta Limited when Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Bharatiya Janta Party Government was in power in the year 2003. HZL is the world's second largest zinc producer.
Naresh Chandra Saxena is an Indian bureaucrat who served as a member of the Planning Commission of India.
Lodu Sikaka is a Dongria Kondh tribal and a leader of Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti in Odisha state, India. According to the advocacy group Survival International, reporting local sources, he was one of two leaders who were abducted in August 2010 after they had been peacefully protesting a bauxite mine that Vedanta Resources and the Government of Odisha proposed to create on land upon which the tribe traditionally depended. Some reports at the time suggested he was being held by the police, though the police themselves refuse to confirm this.
Sudhir Pattnaik is a journalist and a social activist from Orissa, India. He is the editor of Samadrusti, a fortnightly political and social news magazine in the Odia language published from Bhubaneswar.
The Dangaria Kandha people are members of the Kondhs. They are located in the Niyamgiri hills in the state of Odisha in India. They sustain themselves from the resources of the Niyamgiri forests, practising horticulture and shifting cultivation. They have been at the centre of a dispute over mining rights in the area.
Lingaraj Azad, popularly known as Azad Bhai, is a dalit activist from the Indian state of Orissa. He became notable for his activism in opposing Vedanta Resources's bauxite refinery in Lanjigarh and mining of Niyamgiri Hills that tribals say would displace thirty villages of Dongria Kondhs on top of the mountains.
Prasun Kumar Mukherjee is the Executive Director of Sesa Sterlite Limited, a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources plc.
The Niyamgiri is a hill range situated in the districts of Kalahandi and Rayagada in the south-west of Odisha, India. These hills are home to Dongria Kondh indigenous people. The hills have one of India's most pristine forests in the interior. It is bound by Karlapat Wildlife Sanctuary on the north-west side and Kotgarh Wildlife Sanctuary on the north-east end.
Vedanta Jharsuguda Power Station is a coal based thermal captive power plant located near Jharsuguda town in Jharsuguda district in the Indian state of Odisha. The power plant was commissioned in July 2008, and is operated by Vedanta Resources. It supplies power to aluminum smelter of Vedanta Resources.
Orissa Mining Corporation v. Ministry of Environment & Forest & Others is a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of India, which declared that Gram Sabha has a role to play in safeguarding the customary and religious rights of the STs and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (TFDs) like Dangaria Kondha etc. under the Forest Rights Act. The Apex Court maintained that the decision lies with the locals.
Wira Pdika is a 124-minute 2005 film independently produced and directed by Samarendra Das and Amarendra Das, characterised by the reviewer Subrat Kumar Sahu as 'a milestone in terms of authenticity in documentary filmmaking'.