Page 14 - Mining Industry

Projects pipeline in place to add $6 billion to topline, says Vedanta

Mining conglomerate Vedanta Ltd has a pipeline of more than 50 active projects and expansions to drive growth, which is expected to generate incremental revenue of over USD 6 billion and incremental USD 2.5-3 billion of annual EBITDA upon completion, a top company executive said at an investor event. These growth initiatives, which the company categorises into the 'Discovery' stage, 'Concept' stage and 'Execution' stage, are spread out across all Vedanta's business segments - aluminium, zinc, base metals, steel, copper and power. "We continuously explore options to create additional value at all our sites. We currently have several high-impact projects in execution mode, across all our businesses. These will further contribute to our cost leadership, while substantially increasing our operating capacities. These levers will help drive our EBITDA towards the stated target of USD 7.5 billion annually," the company's vice chairman Navin Agarwal said at the event. Vedanta is expecting a

JSW Group interested in acquiring critical mineral blocks: Chairman Jindal

Steel to Infrastructure JSW Group is interested in participating in auction of critical minerals, its Chairman Sajjan Jindal said on Wednesday. Jindal, who made the remarks at an event in Mumbai, said the move will help in backward integration of the group's plans for new energy vehicles. "We will certainly participate when the mining auction comes up," he said while replying to a question. The comments come a month after the JSW Group announced signing an agreement with the Odisha government to set up an integrated electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing facility in the state, entailing an investment of Rs 40,000 crore. Once completed, the project will mark JSW Group's foray into the automobile space. Union Mines Minister Pralhad Joshi has launched the second tranche of the auction of critical and strategic mineral blocks. The government also plans to launch the first tranche of offshore minerals auctions by June-July this year.

Vedanta's demerger plan may face hurdles from shareholders, creditors

Vedanta's plan to demerge its businesses into separate entities could face hurdles from its minority shareholders and creditors, according to a report. On September 29, the mining conglomerate announced plans to demerge five of its key businesses, including aluminium, oil and gas, and steel, into separate listed entities. "We maintain our view that VEDL's (Vedanta Ltd's) planned demerger of its other businesses could face major hurdles from minority shareholders and/or creditors, which may delay or derail the deal. There have been few updates on the demerger progress ever since it was announced in September 2023," Credit Sights, a FitchSolutions Company, said in its latest report. The report further said it will be a challenge for Hindustan Zinc Ltd (HZL) -- a Vedanta Group company -- to proceed with its proposed demerger as the company will be "unsuccessful" in getting the required 75 per cent shareholders' approval. Vedanta and the Centre, which owns a 29.5 per cent stake in HZL,

Cairn gave up right to claim interest: Vedanta to appeal against Sebi order

Billionaire Anil Agarwal's Vedanta Ltd on Wednesday said it will appeal against Sebi levying Rs 77.6 crore penalty for delay in paying dividends to its erstwhile shareholder, Cairn Energy, saying the UK firm had given up its right to claim interest when it settled a retrospective tax demand with the government. Sebi had on Tuesday ordered Vedanta to pay Rs 77.62 crore to Scottish explorer Cairn and also barred the firm's entire board, including his brother Navin and daughter Priya, from accessing the capital market for the same. "Vedanta Ltd will appeal the Sebi order before the appropriate forum," the firm said in a statement. Vedanta had in 2011 bought Cairn Energy's majority stake in its Indian arm, Cairn India Ltd. Cairn continued to hold a minority stake in Cairn India, which was subsequently merged into its parent and Mumbai-listed Vedanta Ltd. In 2014, the Income Tax department gave it powers to levy taxes retrospectively, to seek Rs 10,247 crore in capital gains tax from th

Vedanta told to pay Cairn Rs 77.6 crore, Board barred from market

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in a 76-page order said Vedanta must make the payment within 45 days or face further action

US, Canada, indigenous groups to address cross-border mining pollution

The US, Canada and several indigenous groups announced a proposal on Monday to address pollution from coal mining in British Columbia that officials say has been contaminating waterways and harming fisheries on both sides of the border for years. The proposal would be executed through a century-old US-Canada boundary waters treaty, establishing independent boards to study the pollution's extent and make cleanup recommendations. Details were obtained by The Associated Press in advance of the proposal's public release. It comes after indigenous groups in British Columbia, Montana and Idaho lobbied for more than a decade for the federal governments in the US and Canada to intervene and stop the flow of pollution. Scientists from the US Environmental Protection Agency several years ago confirmed high levels of selenium in fish and eggs in Montana's Kootenai River downstream of Lake Koocanusa, which straddles the US Canada border. The chemical, released when coal is mined and washed duri

CIL, Vedanta, Adani eye lithium mining rights in Chhattisgarh's Korba

In February 2023, the Geological Survey of India (GSI) discovered lithium in the Katghora tehsil of Korba district

Sebi warns Vedanta for publishing 'unlisted ultimate holding' firm's info

Mining major Vedanta on Thursday said it has received an administrative warning from markets regulator Sebi for "publishing information related to its unlisted ultimate holding company". Vedanta received a letter from NSE on March 6, 2023, annexing a letter dated February 29, 2024, issued by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), according to a regulatory filing. The company has been directed to place the said letter before its board and take necessary corrective steps to strengthen the internal control for corporate announcements/ press releases, it said without divulging any further information. On the details of the violations alleged to be committed, the company said the letter is "in respect of it publishing information related to its unlisted ultimate holding company". New Delhi-based Vedanta Ltd is a diversified natural resources company with interests in oil and gas, aluminium, copper, zinc, lead, silver, iron ore and steel.

Govt launches 2nd round of critical, strategic mineral blocks auction

The first round of auctions was launched in November last year, in a move to drive the nation's clean energy push

CBI summons SP chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday in illegal mining cases

The CBI has summoned Samajwadi Party president and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav as a witness for questioning on Friday in illegal mining cases, five years after registering the case. In a notice issued under section 160 of CrPC, the agency asked him to appear before it on February 29 in connection with the case registered in 2019, officials said. The section allows a police officer to summon witnesses in a probe. The case pertains to the issuance of mining leases in alleged violation of e-tendering process. The Allahabad High Court had ordered the probe. It is alleged that public servants allowed illegal mining during 2012-16, when Yadav was chief minister, and illegally renewed licences despite a ban by the National Green Tribunal on mining. It is alleged that the officers allowed theft of minerals, extorted money from lease-holders and drivers. The CBI had filed seven preliminary enquiries in 2016 on the directions of the Allahabad High Court to probe the

Vedanta eyes $6 bn Ebitda in FY25, reiterates guidance on profit targets

Mining conglomerate Vedanta Group is eyeing USD 6 billion of pre-tax profits in the next financial year and scaling it to USD 7-7.5 billion in the following year on the back of operational efficiencies across businesses. "The building blocks are already in place, and largely under our control for EBITDA augmentation. The increase will be driven by ongoing cost optimization, price increases and volume ramp-up," Ajay Goel, CFO, Vedanta Limited said at a recent analysts' meet. The company is expected to clock nearly USD 5 billion of EBITDA in FY24 (April 2023 to March 2024); adjusting for one-time gains of the Cairn arbitration, the operational EBITDA for FY24 will be USD 4.4 billion. The ambitious EBITDA target of USD 6 billion represents a jump of over 35 per cent. "Most of this growth, nearly 15 per cent, will be driven by cost optimization measures. Price upticks, for example through increase in value added aluminium products, will account for another 8 per cent. Ramp-ups in ...

Vedanta group's Hindustan Zinc forays into strategic mineral exploration

Vedanta group firm Hindustan Zinc on Tuesday announced the formation of new subsidiary Hindmetal Exploration Services Pvt Ltd. The development aims at the company's foray into strategic mineral exploration and diversification of its portfolio. "In line with our vision and with our strategic exploration objective to upgrade Ore Reserves and Mineral Resources (R&R), the company has incorporated Hindmetal Exploration Services Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hindustan Zinc Ltd, with an objective to explore, discover, develop and tap mineral resources," Hindustan Zinc said in a regulatory filing. The arm was incorporated on Monday, it said. In the last decade, the Centre has introduced significant transformational reforms to open up the mineral sector to ensure its contribution to achieving the national policy goals and also allowed private sector participation in the exploration and mining of critical minerals which were earlier mined only by government companies, it ...

Govt carried out coal auctions after tweaking rules: Cong cites CAG reports

The Congress on Saturday cited CAG reports to allege that the government carried out coal auctions after tweaking rules in order to favour a select few industrialists and this caused huge revenue loss. The opposition party also asked why no action was taken by the government and the prime minister on letters by two BJP leaders raising concerns over the coal auctions. It further asked whether the government would order an ED investigation into the matter. While addressing a press conference, Congress leader Pawan Khera showed letters by BJP leader and now ministers R K Singh and Rajeev Chandrasekhar, raising concerns in 2015 over the coal auctions to some companies by allowing only two companies, who were related, to bid for the blocks that led to cartelisation and loss of revenue. He alleged that the two were later made ministers and no action was taken on their concerns thereafter. "Will the Modi government order an ED raid and investigate this sordid saga of collusion and ...

Mineral output increases by 5.1% in December, says mines ministry

India's mineral output increased by 5.1 per cent in December as compared to the year-ago period, the government said on Thursday. The index of mineral production of mining and quarrying sector for the month of December, 2023 at 139.4 is 5.1 per cent higher as compared to the level witnessed in the corresponding month of 2022, the mines ministry said in a statement. The cumulative growth rate in the mining and quarrying sector for the April-December period of the current fiscal over the corresponding period of previous financial year is 8.5 per cent, as per the provisional statistics of Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM). In December, the production of coal stood at 929 lakh tonnes while that of lignite at 40 lakh tonnes, iron ore at 255 lakh tonnes and limestone at 372 lakh tonnes. Production of lignite, limestone, coal, bauxite and natural gas showed positive growth. However, a negative growth was registered in the production of petroleum (crude), gold, chromite, phosphorite and ...

Bihar achieves just 51.78% of mining revenue collection target till Feb 14

The Mines and Geology department of Bihar government has expressed concern over revenue collections falling short of the target and warned officials of strict disciplinary action if they fail to get their act together before the financial year comes to a close. Officials have managed to achieve just Rs 1,896.43 crore of its revenue target of Rs 3,662.39 crore for 2023-24 from the mining sector till February 14, 2024, according to documents. As per the latest review meeting chaired by the Director of Mines and Geology the department has achieved 51.78 per cent of the mining revenue collection target till February 14. In some districts such as Nalanda, Kaimur, Gaya, Aurangabad, Nawada, Jehanabad, Lakhisarai, Jamui, Munger, Kishanganj, Banka, Bhagalpur and Saran the revenue collection is less than 50 per cent, it said. "If the revenue collection in these districts does not increase immediately, strict disciplinary action will be initiated against the concerned officials of these ...

Gasification projects to help in economic development of coal regions: Govt

The government on Wednesday said that coal gasification projects will help in socio-economic development of coal bearing regions as well as in boosting the country's energy security. Addressing a road show here to promote coal/lignite gasification projects, additional secretary in the coal ministry M Nagaraju called for investments in technology towards a greener and cleaner future. This was the second road show organised by the coal ministry on coal and lignite gasification projects after the first one held in Hyderabad on February 16. The event here was attended by key stakeholders, including policy makers, EPC agencies, PMC consultants and. They discussed the opportunities and hurdles associated with coal and lignite gasification projects. According to an official release, the road show served as a platform to highlight the government's scheme for the promotion of coal/lignite gasification projects, emphasising their key role in India's energy landscape and economic ...

JSW Steel in talks with Australia's Whitehaven for coal mine stake

The miner acquired the Blackwater and Daunia mines from BHP Group in a $4.1 billion deal last October, and expects the acquisition to complete in early April

Offshore mineral blocks' auction process to begin in 2-3 months: Secy

The government will begin the auction process for offshore mineral blocks in the next two-three months, Mines Secretary V L Kantha Rao said on Thursday. "...Ministry of Mines will start the auction process in next 2-3 months for these offshore blocks," he said. The government already has 35 offshore mineral blocks identified by the Geological Survey of India (GSI) for auction, Rao said, adding that 24 more blocks are in the pipeline which will be given to the mines ministry for sale, an official statement said. "As the process of auctioning of offshore blocks for exploration and exploitation is a new domain, for this initiative to succeed in a meaningful way, Mines Ministry is working on the Amendments in the Offshore Areas Mineral (Development & Regulation) Act, 2002," he said. Moreover, the Centre is also in the process of developing a standard operating procedures to be followed if a private sector bidder wins the block for exploration, Rao said. The secretary was speaking at a

Anil Agarwal's Vedanta Resources sells stake worth Rs 1,737 crore

Finsider International, part of billionaire Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Resources, sold more than 65.5 million Vedanta Ltd shares at 265.14 rupees each, the data showed

Vedanta's parent may sell $1 billion worth shares to GQG Partners: Report

Saddled with $6.4 bn in outstanding debt, including $4.5 bn payment due by fiscal 2025, Vedanta Resources has been attempting to shore up finances, including through recent debt restructuring