Vedanta group chairman Anil Agarwal has said his companies are looking to invest around $20 billion in India, possibly during the privatisation of BPCL, Shipping Corporation and Hindustan Copper.
“We are evaluating BPCL, Shipping Corporation and Hindustan Copper if it comes. If BPCL comes to us, people will be most happy since we are not going to retrench anyone. At the same time, they will have a backward integration in terms of fuel supply from Cairn,” Agrawal told the TOI in an interview.
He said the group has floated a fund for $10 billion and that they have got a “tremendous response”, including from some sovereign wealth funds.
The government will possibly tell them this month when bids have to be submitted, he said, adding that it should happen in the next two three months.
Agarwal welcomed the recent privatisation move in his interview, saying the government could get $1 trillion at today’s market price.
To a question on why his companies faced so much flak from environmentalists, he said there is pressure from foreign entities to block manufacturing in India, including through environmental and other concerns.
“The world does not want India to produce but be a market. We don’t have to be an import-dependent country,” he said.
He claimed that his companies have the highest level of ESG (environmental, social and governance) compliance and the highest certification from agencies.
Agarwal also said he has no plans to delist Vedanta, in which they now have a 66% shareholding.
On being asked about the controversy over the Videocon insolvency, where Vedanta’s bid came close to the liquidation value, Agarwal said: “We offered the highest price. We are very conscious that electronic manufacturing has to come to India. We have full trust in our banks and the judiciary.”
