Vedanta offers Rs17,000 crore for govt stake in 2 units

Anil Agarwal's Vedanta Resources has offered Rs17,000 crore to buy the Indian government's remaining stakes in Hindustan Zinc Ltd and Bharat Aluminium Co, Vishwapati Trivedi, secretary in the ministry of mines, said on Wednesday.

Speaking after a meeting of secretaries of ministries concerned, including law, corporate affairs, finance and mining, to discuss the issue, Trivedi said they had decided to refer it to a group of ministers.

While Vedanta has offered Rs15,494 crore for the government's 29.5-per cent stake in the listed Hindustan Zinc, it has only offered Rs1,780 crore for the government's 49 per cent stake in the unlisted Balco.

According to CNBC-TV18, government officials say the Balco offer is not attractive and the method of valuation is not clear. Vedanta has said that it will only take a call on revising the offer once it gets the government's formal response to its original proposal. The sale may only be concluded if Vedanta ups the premium for the stakes.

Buying the stakes will give Vedanta's Mumbai-based unit Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd control over a combined 964,000 metric tons of annual zinc and lead-producing capacity and full ownership of a 2 million ton-a-year bauxite mine. The government is seeking to narrow its fiscal deficit through steps including asset sales.

Spokesmen for both Hindustan Zinc and Vedanta refused to comment.