"Our dream has just begun” – Anil Agarwal details Vedanta’s US$6-7 bn India investment plan

Vedanta Resources, the world’s leading diversified natural resources company with aluminium operations in India, said that its big dream for the country has only just begun. With a market capitalisation of US$14 billion, the group is setting out to invest US$6-7 billion in expanding its overall capacity by 2021.

Expressing optimism about India’s future and the government’s thrust on natural resources, Vedanta Resources chairman Anil Agarwal said, "Our dream has just begun. Faring very well financially during the last fiscal, we are looking for at least 60 per cent capacity addition in our businesses in three to four years."

"For expanding capacity by 60 per across segments, on a pro-rata basis we will be spending about $6-7 billion," Agarwal said.

He sounded hopeful about Indian government's current thrust on natural resource development.

Vedanta Aluminium, a group company anchored in India, is aspiring to take its primary aluminium capacity in the country to 3 million tonnes in 3-4 years’ time.  Currently, it is one of the leaders in the domestic industry with 40 per cent market share.

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Vedanta spent US$0.7 billion capex in FY 2016-17. The capital expenditure enabled the company to ramp up production at its existing facilities in India and reap significant benefits out of it. In the quarter ended March 31^st 2017, Vedanta reported a consolidated net profit of INR 2,988 crore. Its free cash flow increased five per cent year-on-year to reach INR 13,312 crore in Q4 FY 2017.