Vedanta pledges $700 million to the growth of Konkola Copper Mines, Zambia
By Rakhi Mazumdar
, ET Bureau|
Updated: Apr 12, 2018, 09.57 PM IST
Vedanta has said it will invest around $700 million as part of its committment to the growth of Konkola Copper Mines in Zambia, This follows Vedanta’s previous injection of $3 BILLION (comprising the $1 billion pledge of fresh investments made by Mr Agarwal in 2017) .
The investment plans were announced by Anil Agarwal, the Chairman of Vedanta Resources Plc, as he outlined a Path to Growth for the Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), a Zambian subsidiary of the diversified global mining and resources company. Agarwal, who is on a two-day visit to Zambia, where he has attended the India-Zambia Business forum, said Vedanta was fully committed to supporting KCM’s plans to increase production to 400,000 metric tonnes per annum in the next few years.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Zambia-India Business forum, the he said that KCM will construct a new cobalt refinery, a coal-fired power plant, a training school for upskilling local talent and continue to invest in local communities in the areas of education, health, sport and poverty eradication and sustainable livelihoods.
Mr Agarwal commented: “I was eager to come to Zambia almost 15 years ago at a time when KCM was facing a lot of challenges. We have now created a strong position for KCM after investing over $3 billion. Last year I pledged to invest an extra $1 billion. We are targeting strong growth for KCM in the years ahead.
“Our desire is to have a win-win situation. The government must be happy the Zambian public must be happy and our communities must flourish. We will maintain a continued focus on safety and the environment to realise this. We need to be patient, and we would ask our labour unions to be patient too. We plan to redeploy all the money we make to ensure the growth of KCM,” he added.
Agarwal who spoke on a wide range of mining issues, said South Africa was another attractive destination for FDI, in view of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s business friendly disposition. He pointed to Anglo American Plc’s commitment to remain in South Africa as a positive turnaround.
“Anglo is very much a part of South Africa and they should be proud to remain in South Africa. I am happy that they have changed their mind about selling all their assets in South Africa. All this, I am sure, is because investor confidence has picked up in the wake of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s election,” he said. Agarwal has become the biggest individual shareholder in Anglo American after investing a part of his family’s wealth in the global mining firm.
