India’s Vedanta will complete sale of steel assets by March- chairman to CNBC-TV18

BENGALURU (Reuters) -India’s Vedanta Ltd will complete the sale of its steel assets by March 2024 as it looks to reduce overall debt, group chairman Anil Agarwal told CNBC-TV18 channel on Tuesday.

The company began the review of its steel and steel raw material business – formed through the acquisition of ESL Steel in 2018 for 52.30 billion rupees – in June, looking to sell the company to focus on its core mining businesses.

The conglomerate last week decided to spin off into various commodity-focused companies looking to shore up financials. Its parent Vedanta Resources saw a slate of rating downgrades triggered by worries over its $6.4 billion outstanding debt.

Agarwal on Tuesday told CNBC-TV18 that Vedanta has lined up finances of about $1 billion in January and $500-$600 million due in August and is also talking to bond holders.

(Reporting by Sethuraman NR in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)

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