Vedanta invests additional US $1.2Bn in South Africa

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Vedanta Resources recently confirmed its commitment to invest an additional US $1.2Bn in South Africa. This is following its previous investment worth US $400m. The recent move thus puts the company’s total investment in the African continent currently at nearly US $4Bn.

According to media reports, Vedanta Resources Executive Chairman Anil Agarwal and CEO, Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan along with CEO of Vedanta Zinc International, Deshnee Naidoo, are part of the high-level business delegation accompanying South African President Ramaphosa on his current trip to India.

Meanwhile, Vedanta has so far invested US $33Bn on its home front India. It has also committed to invest another US $8Bn within the next three years. Moreover, the company has since generated 100,000 jobs in India and South Africa. It has further committed to generate significantly more jobs in the coming years.

The Executive Chairman Agarwal said that it is an honour to be part of President Ramaphosa’s delegation and to welcome him and his colleagues on the Indian soil as we look to strengthen this relationship further. He also expressed his intentions to replicate South Africa’s mining culture in India. According to Agarwal, South Africa has global mining experts and India needs their knowledge.

India and South Africa have been partners through centuries and the relationship between the two countries is very deep and long lasting. After acquiring the undeveloped asset from Anglo American in 2011, work at Gamsberg began in mid-2016. The mine has since started producing finished zinc concentrate as of late 2018.

According to media reports, the company is currently undertaking feasibility study to build a greenfield, state-of-the-art smelter and refinery as part of the Gamsberg project. If found feasible, the construction of the smelter-refinery is likely to entail fresh investment of US $800m and will make the Khai-Ma region of Northern Cape an industrial powerhouse.

India is currently placed as the world’s fastest growing large economy, with projected growth of 7.6% in 2019. The country is also forecast to become the world’s third largest economy within 10 years, behind only China and the US.

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