The corporate misplaced management of Konkola, or KCM, in 2019 after the federal government positioned the operations underneath provisional liquidation, accusing Vedanta of mendacity about growth plans and never paying sufficient taxes. That sparked a years-long authorized battle till Zambia agreed to the hand belongings again. Agarwal sees KCM as a key supply of copper for India, which has restricted provides of its personal.
Vedanta seeks companions for:
- Mine exploration to extend reserves and assets to 21 million metric tons of copper equal, from 16 million tons;
- Enhancing cobalt manufacturing to extend output to six,000 tons per 12 months; and
- Working and sustaining concentrator crops, a smelter, a refinery and a tailings-leach plant.
(By Matthew Hill and Taonga Mitimingi)