On Saturday, Vedanta announced an investment of over ₹1 trillion across various business verticals in Rajasthan. These include zinc production and oil and gas exploration.
Hindustan Zinc will invest ₹30,000 crore nearly to double the zinc output capacity from 1.2 MTPA to 2 MTPA.
The company further plans to increase silver production to 2,000 tonnes from 800 tonnes and put a fertiliser plant in a place that has one MTPA capacity. Cairn Oil & Gas is another company owned by Vedanta that plans to invest ₹35,000 crore to take the capacity up to 300,000 barrels per day, said the company.
Under the banner of Serentica Renewables, a Vedanta Group company, the group will invest ₹50,000 crores in the development of 10,000 MWs of renewable power capacity. It would actively support group investments, facilitate energy transition, and maintain the highest standards of environmentalism by way of green manufacturing practices.
Apart from these investments, Vedanta has announced plans for developing an industrial park around the Udaipur area, not for profit-oriented purposes but for smaller and medium-scale industries with minimum investments of ₹5 crore.
The state was another testimony to its commitment towards the region with its participation in the Rising Rajasthan Roadshow in the UK, led by Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma and a delegation of state ministers. During the event, the Chief Minister met Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal and discussed the group’s investment plans running into over ₹1 trillion spread across the zinc, oil and gas, and renewable energy sectors.
He added, “The proposed investments will create over 200,000 jobs apart from constructing over 500 downstream industries in almost every sector for which import substitution would be facilitated.” Agarwal said, “Rajasthan is one of the very few states that carry hydrocarbons and richness in many critical minerals like zinc, lead, silver, gold, copper, potash, rock phosphate, marble, and many other quality stones.”
“This is a significant step in achieving our goal, and we feel privileged to work jointly with the state government to induce economic development and better living standards in this region, he added.”.
Till now, Vedanta has committed over ₹1.5 trillion to the state of Rajasthan. Two of its crown jewels—Hindustan Zinc Ltd., ranked as the world’s second-largest integrated zinc producer—and Cairn Oil & Gas are headquartered in the state. Cairn Oil & Gas also significantly contributes to the country’s domestic crude production, adding 25% to total output, most of which comes from its operations in Barmer, Rajasthan.
