Internal accruals may fund roughly half of Vedanta's $20 billion expansion plan: Agarwal

Vedanta will continue to have some debt as it charts on an expansion plan, company chairman Anil Agarwal said Friday. Speaking to ET in New Delhi, Agarwal said the planned $20 billion capital expenditure will be funded through a mix of equity partnerships, internal accruals, and debt. Earlier in the day, Vedanta announced an Rs 80,000 crore investment in the North East.

According to regulatory filings, the consolidated debt of Vedanta Limited stood at Rs 53,251 crore as of March 31, 2025.

“I don't want to run company as zero debt…This is a good level of debt. We are a growing company,” Agarwal said while adding the natural resources conglomerate plans to invest $20 billion in another three to four year.

Commenting on how this expansion will be financed, Agarwal said, “We will internally generate probably half the money,” while adding the balance funds will come through a mix of equity partnerships and debt.

The group is undergoing corporate restructuring and work on demerger of Vedanta Ltd. into Aluminium, Oil and Gas, Power and Iron ore, businesses is underway.

Responding to a query on how the Rs 80,000 crore investments he announced for the North East will be spent, Agarwal said, “The crude oil below the ground can transform the entire North East because it is so profitable. Arunachal Pradesh has graphite. There are rare earth minerals there. China is surviving, and dominating only because of rare earth.”

Agarwal said Vedanta would continue to be identified as a natural resource company. “Some foreigner powers do not want us to produce natural resources. They want India to be a market and not a supplier. But the time has changed. We have to produce our own copper, oil and gas, and steel…This is the path we need to stick with for the next 25 years.”