Vedanta Resources’ Anil Agarwal says there has been no default ever in debt repayment

Vedanta Resources Ltd Chairman Anil Agarwal on Friday said that he has never defaulted on his company’s debt repayment ever in his career. Speaking at the India Today Conclave 2023, Agarwal said that he has extensively invested in metals ranging from zinc to aluminium, but has never defaulted on debt repayment.

“I have invested in $22 billion in oil and gas, similarly I have invested $17 billion in aluminium, $20 billion in zinc. My total debt from all these investments stands at $13 billion. I have earned $5 billion last year from my different companies and expect to earn $10 billion next year. I have never defaulted on debt repayment. People are trying to target for our development. People are wondering how we never defaulted on anything,” said Agarwal on Friday.

The mining mogul added that people are trying to target, and he is open to such criticism. “I am sure of one thing that I will not default in governance, rest people can say anything.”

Also read: '$1 bn is peanuts for us': Anil Agarwal on Vedanta's dues by June 2023

Also read: Vedanta shares drop 3% despite 'zero debt' pledge by Anil Agarwal

Vedanta’s debt repayment liabilities came under scanner after the Centre opposed the proposed sale of the international zinc business to Hindustan Zinc. Problems surfaced S&P Global Ratings too stated that Vedanta’s credit ratings might “come under pressure” if it is unable to raise $2 billion or sell its international zinc assets.

This observation unnerved the investors and markets, which saw massive sell-offs in the company stock. In the last one month, shares of Vedanta have crashed nearly 10 per cent.

On its part, Vedanta Resources maintained it has pre-paid all of its debt that was due for repayment till March 2023, deleveraging by $2 billion in the past 11 months.

It added that the company is confident of meeting its liquidity requirements for the quarter ending June 2023.

Earlier this week, the company declared that it has repaid $100 million to Standard Chartered Bank via the release of encumbrance on March 10, 2023.

In a regulatory statement, the company said: “The earlier disclosure was made pursuant to facility agreement dated 8 September 2022 entered into between Twin Star Holding Limited (as borrower), Vedanta Resources Limited and Welter Trading Limited (as original guarantors), and Standard Chartered Bank (Singapore) Limited (as original lender)... for the purposes of availing a facility of an aggregate amount of $100,000,000.”

Vedanta-Foxconn JV

While speaking about Vedanta’s investment in semiconductor unit in Gujarat, which it is building in partnership with Taiwanese chip giant Foxconn, Agarwal said the company will bring in make cheaper and more effective semiconductor chips at the Gujarat plant in the shortest time.

"The Indian government wants that fibre optics to reach all spheres of life. I want to assure everyone that we will make cheaper and more effective semiconductor chips at the Gujarat plant. We will innovate better chips. We have signed MoUs with 100 Japanese companies to create a cluster. We are expecting 700-800 companies to join us in this project. I assure best products coming to customers. The plans are on.”

In September 2022, the Vedanta-Foxconn JV signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Gujarat government and said they would invest Rs 1,54,000 crore to set up semiconductor and display manufacturing plant. It is the first semiconductor manufacturing facility in India. Vedanta will own 63 per cent of the joint venture.

This project is likely to get huge subsidies and incentives, like zero stamp duty on land purchase and subsidised water and electricity, under the 'Gujarat Semiconductor Policy 2022-27' announced by the state government in July last year.

Also read: How Vedanta’s weak semiconductor proposal has emerged as a promising one

Watch: Anil Agarwal Shares His Ambitious Plans For India