Parent of India's Vedanta proposes to cut debt by $3 billion over next three years

Vedanta Resources, Indian miner Vedanta Ltd's UK-based parent company, will seek to cut its debt by $3 billion over the next three years, its chairman said in an annual report on Tuesday.

Vedanta Resources, whose debt stood at $6 billion as of March 2024, has been grappling with a host of rating downgrades since last year as analysts flagged liquidity issues and high default risk.

"We seek to further deleverage Vedanta Resources by $3 billion over the next three years," chairman Anil Agarwal said in the oil-to-metals conglomerate's latest annual report.

In the last two years, Vedanta Resources has cut its debt by $3.70 billion.

Agarwal said the maturity of its outstanding bonds worth $3.20 billion, extended up to fiscal 2029, has provided it with "newfound liquidity". The group will use this liquidity to fund "important capex projects," he added.

Vedanta Ltd, which is in the middle of a planned demerger, aims to operationalise coal blocks and expand capacities for its steel and aluminium business and has proposed to set aside $1.90 billion as capital expenditure for fiscal 2025.