Vedanta Likely To Sell Tamil Nadu Copper Plant For Rs 4,500 Crore: Report

Vedanta invited EoI on June 12 to ‘restart activities’ following the Supreme Court's direction. The plant was shut down on the orders of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board

Anil Agarwal-promoted Vedanta Ltd is exploring options to sell copper plant in Tamil Nadu at a valuation of Rs 4,500 crore, according to a news report. Vedanta was planning to revive its copper facility. The company invited expressions of interest (EoIs) for the unit in June 2022 but did not get a positive response as the plant was closed for the past five years. "The process has now started again with bankers reaching out to potential bidders," citing a source Business Standard reported.

Vedanta invited EoI on June 12 to ‘restart activities’ following the Supreme Court's direction. The plant was shut down on the orders of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB). The company moved apex court against the closure decision and the final verdict is likely by August.

According to the report, Vedanta Resources, the parent firm of Vedanta Limited, is doing all it can to raise funds to repay its debt and the amount raised by selling the unit would help in meeting its capital expenditure of $1.7 billion for this year.

Analysts are of the view that more avenues are still open such as dividend upstreaming and domestic bond private placement of up to Rs 2,100 crore that was recently okayed by the board of directors and asset sale.

Vedanta Resources is hopeful of paying its debt obligations over the next few months aided by its recent efforts to raise $1.3 billion. As of March 2023, Vedanta Resources has $1.7 billion of short-term investments in various bank deposits, quoted bonds and mutual funds.

Analysts at CreditSites believe this could be liquidated if the need arises and mark-to-market takes a potential hit.

On Thursday morning, Vedanta Ltd was trading at Rs 281.70 apiece on the bourses, up 0.16 per cent on the BSE.