Vedanta's aluminium business head says demerger process to be completed in next 9-12 months

Jharsuguda (Odisha): Vedanta is working "actively" for demerger of its key businesses, including aluminium, into separate listed companies and the process is likely to be completed in the next nine to 12 months, a top official of the company said.

Billionaire Anil Agarwal-owned Vedanta Ltd had last year announced the creation of independent verticals through the demerger of its metal, power, aluminium, and oil and gas businesses to unlock potential value.

In an interview with PTI, John Slaven, CEO of the aluminium business of Vedanta, said, "We are working very actively in securing the successful demerger of the aluminium business." The process for the demerger is currently underway and is subject to a number of approvals from various authorities, he added.

"We also need approval from our current lenders in the allocation of debt across the various entities that will be separated. So that's playing out at the moment. It's not directly within our hands. So unfortunately I'm not in a position to tell you categorically when it will occur. We are confident that in the next 9 to 12 months the demerger will be completed," Slaven said.

The move, he said, will be an evolutionary step for Vedanta's aluminium business as it will help Vedanta Aluminium to chart out its own course.

"I think more fundamentally it enables our investors and Vedanta Resources to really have a much better understanding of the opportunities and potential of the aluminium business.

"It will become much more visible as it would be a pure play. We will have a dedicated management team, and a dedicated board of directors will be able to chart our own strategy with input from the investor community," Slaven said.

About capacity expansion plans for 2024-25, he said that the company will see a significant change in its business because the refinery expansions at Lanjigarh will be effectively completed by the end of the next fiscal year.

"We are expanding our BALCO smelter, so we are essentially going from 5,50,000 tonnes to a million tonnes, Slaven said, adding that the production is expected to come in the late second quarter or in the beginning of the third quarter, and progressively ramp up during the rest of FY25.

"We are also completing the expansion of our value-added products. We are adding billet capacity, we are adding capacity for foundry alloy, and we are increasing the capacity of our rolled products business so we are taking that from 44,000 tonnes to about 100,000 tonnes. So a lot of that is going to be completed during the next fiscal," he said.

The production at Vedanta's Sijimali bauxite mine will begin in the third quarter of the next financial year, he said.

Besides, the company's additional three coal mines -- Kuraloi, Radhikapur, and Ghogharpalli -- will start production in about nine to 18 months.

Vedanta Aluminium, a business of Vedanta Limited, is the country's leading producer of aluminium, manufacturing more than half of India's aluminium i.e., 2.29 million tonnes in FY'23. It is also into value-added aluminium products that find critical applications in core downstream industries.