50 percent of aluminium and 35
percent of copper, through its various
subsidiaries. The group plans to invest
$10 billion in the next 3-4 years to
grow (and streamline) the existing
businesses, as well as launch new ones.
But in its quest to grow, Vedanta
has suffered setbacks. An 18-month-
long industry-wide mining ban in Goa
in 2012 crippled Sesa Goa—Vedanta’s
iron ore division which it acquired in- A gigantic, $7 billion aluminium
facility in Odisha was held up after
local tribals rejected Vedanta’s plans
to mine bauxite—the raw material
needed to make aluminium—from
their lands. The dispute drew
criticism from environmentalists
and activist investors, but Agarwal
appears unruffled. “This is an
absolute myth that when mother
earth has oil, gold, silver and other
resources, you don’t take it out.
It’s like taking out milk from a
cow—you have to do it sustainably,
with heart and soul to make sure
you’re not exploiting it. There is
a thin wall,” he acknowledges.
“And I exactly understand that.”
Currently the aluminium facility
uses bauxite from other areas and
works on 60 percent capacity.
Moreover, complicated as
Vedanta’s structure may be—holding
company Volcan owns 61 percent
of the London-listed Vedanta
Resources, which in turn owns
51 percent of the Mumbai-listed
Vedanta Limited, which in turn owns
various subsidiaries—Agarwal insists
that operations are kept simple.
Management is left to professionals
—son Agnivesh, 34, runs his own
scrap metal recovery business in
Dubai—while Agarwal helps withstrategy and “big picture thinking”,
says HDFC’s Parekh. Agarwal for
his part ensures that his CEOs have
a plan for the future, the ability
to develop teams and a knack for
working with the government. “We
have a world-class team. They are
all fully empowered. I’m actually the
one who works the least,” he laughs.
But Agarwal’s self-effacing
humour hides a shrewd sensibility;
that of hiring the right people to
get his work done. Take the case
of Vedanta’s float on the London
Stock Exchange in 2003. No Indian
company had done so at that point
in time, yet Agarwal, short of growth
capital for his expanding business, was
clear that London was the place to list.
“That is where most metal
and mining companies are listed,”
he explains. But he couldn’t do it
himself. He needed an internationallyknown industry veteran to lead the
charge, so he hired former BHP
boss Brian Gilbertson. The strategy
worked. The listing raised $875
million, making it the second largest
initial public offering (IPO) of the year.
And suddenly Vedanta was among
the large mining companies of the
world. “The Vedanta IPO showcased
India’s potential as a producer of
commodities. Before that it was just
seen as a consumer,” says Gilbertson,
who resigned shortly after in 2004
after equations with Agarwal turned
sour. He now chairs London-based
mining firm Pallinghurst Resources.J
ust as his vision for India,
Agarwal’s philanthropic
endeavour is hugely ambitious.
“Children are our future,” he says.
And to that extent he has entered intoa public-private partnership with
the Indian government’s women and
child development ministry to set up
4,000 “nandghars” across rural India.
The `400 crore investment will entail
modernising India’s anganwadis or
kindergartens such that children till
the age of seven will have access to
quality health care, nutrition as well as
pre-primary and primary education.
Already over 100 nandghars across
three states in North India have
been piloted. “They have shown
a marked improvement in school
readiness among children,” says PR
Sharma, deputy director, industries
and CSR, government of Rajasthan.
These nandghars, says Agarwal,
double up as vocational training
centres for women. Entrepreneurship
training, including credit linkages to
start their own micro-enterprises,
will be on offer, he says. It’s clear
that Agarwal brings forth the
same entrepreneurial enthusiasm
and foresight to his philanthropy
as he does to his business.
“Education is the biggest thing you
can give to people,” stresses Agarwal
and so his idea of building a world-
class university in Puri, on the coast of
Odisha, to rival Harvard, Stanford and
other great institutions, took shape. “It
will not just be a university, but also
a powerful research centre, almost
like a think tank,” he says. Spanning
areas of technology, material and
space research, the liberal arts and
political science, Agarwal believes
Vedanta University—which will be
constructed on a 3,800-acre site
and will cater to 100,000 students
when completed—will help develop
future leaders. Initially slated for a
2025 completion, the `15,000 crore
project has been held back due to
a land acquisition imbroglio.
But nothing seems to deter
Agarwal. He knows his mind
and he knows how to get there.
“My grandfather always told
me to adjust with people and
get adjusted. That’s how you get
your work done,” he smiles.54 | forbes india december 29, 2017Vedanta resources is the first
indian company to be listed on
the london stock exchange
Richest
10 0 Ind Ians
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