NEW DELHI: Oil-to-metals conglomerate Vedanta Ltd has planned an investment of around $2 billion in zinc, oil and gas and aluminium in FY23. The Vedanta chairman, Anil Agarwal, while speaking on the occasion of the company’s Annual General Meetings (AGM) also said it is making a foray into the strategic area of manufacturing semiconductor fab and display fab.
“Not only are semiconductors in short supply globally, but India is also 100% import dependent,” said Agarwal. He further said that the domestic consumption of semiconductors is expected to cross $80 billion by 2026 and may touch $110 billion by 2030. Therefore, to set up an integrated semiconductor manufacturing facility in India, Vedanta signed an MoU with Foxconn, one of the world’s largest electronics manufacturers.
“I truly hope this is only the beginning of the creation of a Silicon Valley in India with hundreds of enterprises and hundreds of thousands of talented Indians producing value for the world,” said Agarwal at the AGM.
The financial year FY22 had been the best year for Vedanta as the company clocked a record revenue of Rs 131,192 crore and EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) of Rs 45,319 crore, which was up 66% year-on-year and contributed more than Rs 54,000 crore to the government exchequer.
“Our strong cash flows put the company in a great position for growth. Your company (Vedanta Limited) in FY22 has been the highest dividend paying company in India with a pay-out of Rs 45 per share. Our Board has already announced interim dividends of Rs 51 per equity share for the financial year 2023 amounting to Rs 18,960 crore,” said Agarwal. Agarwal said the conglomerate has pledged $5 billion to reduce carbon emissions in operations to net zero by 2050 or sooner.