ISSUE 39 | VOL 11 | 26 DECEMBER 2020 Vedanta Newsdesk $5 TRILLION ECONOMY FOCUS ON POWER RACE FOR COVID-19 CURE THE 7-POINT PRESCRIPTION FOR A $5 TN ECONOMY India is on course to become a $5 trillion economy and the natural resources sector will play an important part in this journey. Vedanta has already taken the lead in building India’s self-reliance in natural resources. Weeks ahead of the Union Budget, Vedanta Resources Executive Chairman Anil Agarwal has laid out his blueprint on what Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman should focus on to accelerate economic growth for India. RESTART SHUT MINES Around 500 mines in the country are currently not operational due to various disputes and restarting them would be a big step towards achieving India’s target of becoming a $5 trillion economy. “India gets maximum revenues from the natural resources sector, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Let the production go on. Let the existing owners restart production and double the output. If the production is doubled, there is no question we will not have our $5 trillion target,” Mr Agarwal said. ACCELERATE DISINVESTMENT India needs to step up the pace of disinvestment. “Right now, one or two disinvestments are taking place in a year. We need to have at least 20 disinvestments in a year. The kind of wealth that will get created will be phenomenal,” Mr Agarwal said. Anil Agarwal, Chairman, Vedanta “Govt. has taken a bold step towards disinvestment. As the stock market is at an all-time high, the government should make the most of this opportunity to divest selected PSUs which can be turned around by private players. The process needs to be accelerated,” he added. FOCUS ON POWER India has its inherent advantages to become a leading power producer. However, around 65 power plants are shut down, and distribution companies are not operating well. It’s time to privatise and digitalise distribution companies and make them technology driven. “What happened in telecom can be achieved in the power sector. Using the digital technology, power costs in India can come down to Rs 1.5- 2/unit, which will accelerate India’s production and take us to a different level,” he said. PRIVATISING DEFENCE MANUFACTURING India has the potential to become the largest producer of defence products in the world. India has 54 defence companies, which can be corporatized or privatised to create the biggest hub for defence production. “While the government has decided to open up defence production, the process needs to be accelerated. We need to bring in dynamism into the defence production units, and make sure that they use the latest technology. That will make a huge difference,” Mr Agarwal said. INTRODUCING DIFFERENTIAL VOTING India needs to allow differential voting rights. Shares with differential voting rights have been very popular in the western world and have disproportionate rights as compared to economic ownership, thereby allowing promoters the steer the businesses towards growth and profitability. “The moment you allow differential voting, you will see companies like Alibaba coming up in India,” Mr Agarwal said. SELF-CERTIFIICATION TO DOUBLE PRODUCTION The government should bring in a regime of self-certification and trust explorers who are taking so much risk. The mines which bring in value-added products should be incentivised. Environment and forest clearance should be time bound and all expansion of mines should be on a self-certification basis. “The process getting clearances takes years. Bringing in a self-certification regime will help in doubling production and help us in reaching our $5 trillion goal for the economy. The government is free penalise companies that don’t follow the norms. The more the government trusts our entrepreneurs, the more they will deliver,” Mr Agarwal said. EXCERPTS FROM CHAIRMAN’S SPEECH AT THE ASSOCHAM SESSION ON 'FUTURE OF MANUFACTURING IN INDIA' PACE OF DISINVESTMENT WILL GATHER MOMENTUM "You would have seen in the last two months the pace in which the two major disinvestment related activities, and also the others which are relatively bringing down the government share in some of the big public sector undertakings, are also simultaneously happening. The pace of disinvestment will now gain a lot of momentum and those which have already found cabinet NIRMALA SITHARAMAN approval will be taken up with all earnestness. Disinvestment will be happening, corporatisation of not just the defence, DRDO related labs but also banks - where I want them to run a lot more professionally, they should also be able to raise money from the market”. -Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Finance Minister VEDANTA LEADERS AT ASSOCHAM COMMITTED TO REDUCE CARBON FOOTPRINT “We are doubling the gas production this month with a focus on strengthening the energy security of the country. This will lead to de-carbonization and help reduce overall carbon footprint. The government has enacted bold steps in building Atmanirbhar Bharat. Gas exchange platforms are being constructed as part of the larger gas distribution network. The way the network is SUNIL DUGGAL being laid out within the nation is commendable and we are committed carbon footprint reduction by about 45 per cent by 2030, since gas contributes 60 per cent less carbonization for one unit alone.” -Sunil Duggal, Group CEO, Vedanta METALS TO PLAY CRITICAL ROLE IN REVIVING ECONOMY “The contribution of the manufacturing sector to an Atma Nirbhar Bharat is undisputed given the trinity of Demography, Democracy and Demand as favourable catalysts. The pandemic can be the biggest accelerator of global diversification towards India. For India to become an economic powerhouse for the world, domestic manufacturing, especially the metal sector, has to play a crucial role in economic revival. Improving AJAY KAPUR domestic manufacturing is vital for achieving India’s self-sufficiency, reducing the import bill while generating revenue for the government, creating millions of jobs and giving a boost to the overall industrial and economic activity in the country. India’s significant mineral ore reserves, primary capacity and downstream processing capacity lay an excellent foundation for our country to become a global manufacturing hub.” -Ajay Kapur, CEO – Aluminium & Power and MD – Commercial, Vedanta Ltd and Co-Chair, ASSOCHAM National Council on Mines and Minerals “We at Vedanta are fully committed to be an equal partner in this journey by unlocking the true potential of natural resource industry through most sustainable practices. We welcome the policy reforms introduced by the central government which are extremely vital to overcome the economic crisis precipitated due to the COVID-19 Pandemic and the same shall JOSEPH COELHO put back our country on the growth path. I am also confident that Government will further take appropriate steps towards resolving the Goa Mining stalemate very soon which would not only get back the industry on its feet but also provide livelihood of lakhs of Goans.” -Joseph Coelho, Director, Iron Ore Division Goa, Vedanta Limited, Sesa Goa Iron Ore Business. VEDANTA’S DNA OF GIVING BACK “I fondly recall one of the SMEs who were producers of apparel manufacturers and they wanted to contribute to the PPE story by reorienting the manufacturing processes to make PPE suits for the medical community. What they lacked was the finances for machinery, the sealing machine to be particular, which was needed so that they could contribute to the national cause. I distinctly remember calling up SMT. SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI the gentleman who heads Vedanta and besieging Mr. Agarwal that though this is not your core industry, if you could lend a hand to support this small SME so that they are able to make the PPE suit. The fact that industry giants held hands with the SMEs is a quintessential Indian story of bringing together partnerships, bringing together a pool of talented people.” Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani, Union Minister for Textiles, Women & Child Development Giving back is deeply engrained in the fabric of our Indian culture. The onus is on each one of us to support the underprivileged and to work for the betterment of communities so that we can build a better India. Vedanta, in partnership with the Ministry of Women & Child Development, has set up Nand Ghar that is transforming the Anganwadi ecosystem with modern amenities and focuses on PRIYA AGARWAL HEBBAR eradicating child malnutrition, education through e-learning, access to quality healthcare and empowering women through skill development." -Priya Agarwal Hebbar, Non-Executive Director, Vedanta RACE FOR COVID-19 CURE India may begin vaccinating people for COVID-19 in January, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has said, adding that the government's priority has been the safety and efficacy of the vaccine. (NDTV) India is likely to approve Oxford/AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine for emergency use by next week after its local manufacturer submitted additional data sought by authorities, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Tuesday. This could be the first country to give the regulatory green light for the British drug maker’s vaccine as the British medicine regulator continues to examine data from the trials. (Reuters) The interim findings of phase 1 clinical trial of Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin, indigenously developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the ICMR, showed that it was well tolerated in all dose groups with no serious or adverse events. The vaccine induced robust binding and neutralising antibody responses which were comparable to those observed in the convalescent serum collected from patients who had recovered from Covid-19. (Economic Times) Global pharma major Pfizer may price its vaccine lower in India than in the UK and the US, sources in the know said. The government in the recent past had indicated that India wouldn’t be keen to procure the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine because of its high cost and the extreme cold chain requirement at minus 70 degree Celsius.