Jul 12, 2012, 08.23 AM IST

Vedanta's Agarwal slams govt for slowdown in divestment

Vedanta chairman Agarwal criticised the government for going slow on the divestment process and said that the group may not revise its Rs 17,000-crore offer to buy the government's stake in Hindustan Zinc and BALCO

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Vedanta may not revise its Rs 17,000-crore offer to buy the government's stake in Hindustan Zinc (HZL) and Bharat Aluminium Company (BALCO) adding that the valuation was concluded as per the agreement signed at the time of acquiring majority stakes in the two firms. Vedanta chairman Agarwal also criticised the government for going slow on the divestment process.

"It is not the question of more or less... the government has asked us to give a proposal and on the basis of agreement, we have given the proposal in the interest of the industry. We believe that this is a fair proposal...," Vedanta group chairman Anil Agarwal told CNBC-TV18 after meeting Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

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"It's not a question of to consider or reconsider. It’s laid down (in the agreement) and whatever value comes should be fine... I am really looking forward to the government to take a decision. It’s very important to send the right signal to the market and the world," he added.

In 2001, the NDA government sold 51% in BALCO to Vedanta's subsidiary Sterlite Industries for Rs 551 crore through the disinvestment process. Hindustan Zinc was divested in 2003 to Sterlite for Rs 750 crore. Currently, the government holds 49% in Balco and 29.54% in Hindustan Zinc.

"The (government is) definitely going slow and we willrequest the government to take a very active part...If they want to remain as a partner, that is fine with us. If they want to disinvest, we are ready to pay whatever is the right amount as per the agreement," Agarwal said.

In January, Sterlite had offered a little over Rs 17,000 crore to buy out the residual stakes of the government. The offer was made following a government communique to the mining firm seeking its response on the matter.

However, a committee of secretaries (CoS), examining the stake sale in the two firms, did not find the Sterlite offer attractive in its last meeting. It referred the matter to the empowered group of ministers (EGoM) for a final decision. The EGoM is yet to meet on the issue.

(With inputs from PTI)

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