India’s resource major Vedanta Limited has emerged as the country’s sole producer of nickel following completion of the acquisition of Nicomet Limited through a liquidation process, Vedanta said in a statement on Wednesday, December 22.
Vedanta said that, with the acquisition and the revival of operations of Nicomet, based in the western state of Goa, it will be able to increase domestic supplies of nickel for local stainless steel production along with cobalt for battery production.
“Currently, India imports 100 percent of its nickel requirements and our focus will be to boost domestic production that would fuel India’s transition to a net zero economy," Vedanta chairman Anil Agarwal said in the statement.
“Nicomet has a capacity to produce 7.5 mt per year of nickel and cobalt. With an ambitious growth plan in place to ramp it up, Vedanta targets to meet 50 percent of the country’s total nickel demand” he said.
India’s total nickel demand is estimated at 45,000 mt per year, which is completely met through imports at present.
The Nicomet plant in Goa has been lying defunct since 2018 and, following the acquisition, Vedanta is targeting to bring it back to production by March 2022.