Indian mining and resource major Vedanta Limited is examining the options for exiting its steel and steel-related businesses in India, a company official said on Wednesday, November 16.
The official said that Vedanta, which is among the largest producers of aluminium and zinc in the world, did not want to remain a minor player in the Indian steel industry dominated by large companies like Tata Steel, JSW Steel and ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel Limited.
“If we want to stay in steel business, we should be a force to reckon with. The 4-5 million mt per year steel capacity which we have is not small. But we would ideally like to grow to 10 million mt per year. If we decided to stay in steel, we should be on path to be a 10-20 million mt per year player,” Sunil Duggal, group CEO of Vedanta Limited, said.
In 2018, Vedanta Limited entered the Indian steel sector acquiring Electrosteel Steel Limited through the bankruptcy resolution process, renaming the 3 million mt per year capacity steel mill ESL Steel Limited.
The company also operates iron ore mines under its Sesa group company and also has metallurgical coke and ferroalloy production facilities in India.