Vedanta Resources is a British FTSE 250 diversified mining and minerals company headed by Non Resident Indian Anil Agarwal, formerly one of Britain’s richest people, and 69.39% owned by him and his family (as of June 2017) via holding company Volcan Investments Ltd, based in the Bahamas – a UK controlled tax haven.
It was launched on the London Stock Exchange in 2003 with the assistance of BHP Billiton’s Brian Gilbertson, the UK’s Department for International Development (DfID) and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), who continue with their support for the company. Agarwal was a top Tory donor in 2016, and a major donor to both Congress and BJP parties in India from 2004 – 2012 until the donations were found to be unconstitutional in 2014.
Vedanta has mines, refineries, power plants and factories in various states in India – including Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Punjab and Goa – as well as in Zambia, Liberia, South Africa, Namibia, Australia and Ireland. Its portfolio includes aluminium, iron and steel, copper, zinc, power production and oil.
The company is being opposed everywhere it operates for violations of law, worker’s rights, pollution and human rights abuses.