Zambia Shutters Seized Copper Mine as Prices Soar Toward Record
Felix Njini and Taonga Clifford Mitimingi, Bloomberg News BC-Zambia-Shutters-Seized-Copper-Mine-as-Prices-Soar-Toward-Record , Felix Njini and Taonga Clifford Mitimingi
(Bloomberg) Zambia said a lack of capital halted production at a copper mine it seized from Indian billionaire Anil Agarwalâs Vedanta Resources Ltd., just as the metal surges toward a record.
The standstill at Konkola Deep, a high-grade underground pit that also contains cobalt, was triggered by a shortage of funds to develop new mining areas, said Barnaby Mulenga, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Mines. The lack of capital is also curbing output at other operations of Konkola Copper Mines Plc, which was placed under provisional liquidation in 2019 after the government alleged Vedanta lied about expansion plans and paid too little tax.
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Singapore Court Nixes India s Backdoor Appeal In Tax Fight
Law360 (May 12, 2021, 11:12 PM EDT) An attempt by India to obtain a court ruling that might persuade an international tribunal to change its mind on the confidentiality of a tax arbitration involving Vedanta Resources Ltd. was an improper backdoor appeal against the tribunal s decision, a Singapore appeals court has ruled.
On Wednesday, a three-judge panel for the Singapore Court of Appeal released its reasoning for overturning a decision issued last year by a lower court judge who had concluded that while India s application was not an abuse of process, it should nevertheless be denied.
Vedanta shares rallied 7 per cent and hit a three-year high of Rs 287.50 on the BSE in intra-day trade on Friday on healthy and improving operating performance, supported by stable volume across business segments and increased commodity prices.
The stock was trading at its highest level since May 2018. Vedanta was trading higher for the fourth straight day, surging 12 per cent in that period. In the past six months, the stock has outperformed the market by zooming nearly 200 per cent, as compared to 18 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex.
A sharp run-up in stock price of Vedanta has seen the company regain market capitalisation (market-cap) of Rs 1 trillion. At 09:46 am, the scrip was trading 6 per cent higher at Rs 286 with the market-cap of Rs 1.06 trillion, BSE data showed.
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Vedanta copper plant in India remains shut three years after local residents protested against pollution stemming from the plant’s operation.
That, however, has not fazed the Vedanta Group.
Vedanta to set up new copper smelter
Vedanta now plans to set up yet another plant in the country. The proposed copper smelter plant will have a capacity of 500,000 tons per year.
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Vedanta Ltd, the subsidiary of Vedanta Resources, has called for expressions of interest from provincial governments in India regarding a new copper smelter unit.
A Vedanta spokesperson told the Business Standard India’s copper requirements will grow. Furthermore, the spokesperson emphasized ample supply of copper is critical for implementation of new-generation technologies.
Diversified natural resources firm Vedanta Resources has said it contributed USD 4.66 billion (Rs 34,018 crore) to the public exchequer in India during the 2019-20 fiscal. Its overall contributions to public exchequers of various countries stood at USD 4.7 billion (Rs 34,310 crore) during the fiscal year, Vedanta Resources said in its latest report. Consistent with our commitment to building on transparency, we present our fifth tax transparency report. During FY2019-20, our contribution to exchequer was USD 4.7 billion, which accounts for 40 per cent of our consolidated turnover, Vedanta Resources Chairman Anil Agarwal said. Most of this amount goes to the Indian exchequer as majority of the groups business operations are located in India.