Vedanta to invest Rs 70,000 cr in India by 2012

NRI billionaire Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Group will pump in a whopping Rs 70,000 crore in India by 2011-12, a stride that will make it the world's fifth largest metal and mining entity rubbing shoulders with the likes of BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.

"We intend to invest Rs 50,000 crore in (the) aluminium sector and Rs 20,000 crore in other areas like copper, iron ore and zinc by 2011-12 in India," Vedanta Group Executive Chairman Anil Agarwal told PTI in an interview.

Of the proposed investment, about 50 per cent have been invested while the fund for the rest are tied up, he added.

"We are sitting on Rs 30,000 cash (for the projects). There is no funding problem," Agarwal said ruling out any adverse impact of the global economic slowdown on the plans.

After executing the Rs 70,000-crore investment plans in the country, Agarwal said, Vedanta's production would increase manifold and it would clinch the position of world's fifth largest metal and mining company from the present tenth.

With the proposed capital expenditure, Vedanta Group intends to augment its annual aluminium production to 26 lakh tonnes from the current five lakh tonnes besides enhancing the iron ore output from group firm Sesa Goa to 25 million tonnes per annum from 10 million tonnes a year now.

The company also plans to increase its copper and zinc production to 10 lakh tonnes per annum each, from five lakh tonnes and eight lakh tonnes annually, respectively.

Vedanta group firm Hindustan Zinc has already embarked on an expansion, which would see it become Asia's largest silver producer with an annual capacity of 500,000 kg.

Hindustan Zinc at present produces 100,000 kg of the precious metal and has undertaken expansion of its Sindesar Khurd mines in Rajasthan to augment its capacity and join the league of leading silver-producing nations like Peru, Mexico, Chile and Australia.