‘Vedanta aims to be $100-bn entity by 2030’

New Delhi: Mining mogul Anil Agarwal is pushing ahead with an aggressive plan to raise oil and gas production, expand output of metals like zinc and aluminum, and foray into semiconductor manufacturing, undeterred by concerns about debt levels at the company.

Raised in Patna, Agarwal, who dropped out of school at 15, started his business in Mumbai in 1976 as a scrap-metal dealer. Now, he runs a mining and metals empire that spans Britain, India, Africa and Australia.

In an interview with PTI, he said mining can help India prosper as tapping into below-the-ground natural resources will not just cut dependence on imports, but also create jobs and increase prosperity. Vedanta, the company he founded and is chairman of, has ambitious plans to raise production across the business -- from oil and gas to zinc and aluminum.

“We will be producing in two years time 300,000 barrels of oil (and oil equivalent gas) and in 4-5 years' time 500,000 barrels,” he said.

In the fiscal year that ended March 31, 2023, Vedanta produced 142,615 barrels of oil and oil equivalent gas, primarily from its Rajasthan assets. Production of zinc, whose demand alongside steel is growing exponentially as the Indian economy expands, is targeted to be tripled to around 3 million tonnes from assets in India and South Africa.

“Demand for zinc is increasing. We are looking at South Africa and here (in India) together to cater to the demand-supply gap and to produce around 3 million tonnes at the cost of $1,000 per tonne,” he said, adding aluminum too is seeing a 20 per cent year-on-year growth. Vedanta produced 2.3 million tonnes of aluminum in the 2022-23 fiscal year. Agarwal says while there is much talk about new metals like lithium and cobalt, which are key ingredients for making batteries and panels for EVs and renewable energy, without metals the country cannot prosper. EVs and renewable energy sources will require five times more copper, aluminum and zinc, he said.

"We require most urgent attention on mining. In India we have not done (enough) exploration," he said. “More and more below the ground we look at, more and more we will be richer and better off." Vedanta is targeting to become a $100 billion company by 2030 from the present $20 billion with new planned investments in sectors like zinc and oil and gas. The company is also making an entry into manufacturing semiconductor and display fabs. Semiconductors, on which India is heavily reliant on imports to meet its needs, are used in virtually every electronic item -- from cars to mobiles and TV sets. Agarwal said the first semiconductor from the planned factory in Gujarat will be rolled out in two-and-a-half years times.