Industry Profile. :  Mining as the primary sector of economics is crucial for development, not for employment but for utilization of natural resources. Minerals constitute the backbone economic growth of any nation. India has been eminently endowed with this gift of na­ture. There is much evidence that the exploitation of minerals like coal, iron ore, copper, and lead zinc has been happening in the country from time immemorial. The Mining industry in India is a significant economic activity that contributes significantly to the economy of India. The GDP contribution of the mining industry varies from 2.2% to 2.5%, but going by the GDP of the entire industrial sector, it contributes around 10% to 11%. Even mining done on a small scale contributes 6% to the actual cost of mineral production. The Indian mining industry provides job opportunities to around 700,000 individuals.

However, the first recorded history of mining in India dates back to 1774, when an English  Company was granted permission by the East India Company to mine coal in Raniganj.  M/s  John Taylor & Sons Ltd. started gold mining in Kolar Gold Fields in 1880. The first oil well was drilled in Digboi in 1866 – just seven years after the first-ever oil well was drilled anywhere in the world, viz. in Pennsylvania state, USA, in 1859. However, mining activities in the country remained primitive in nature and modest in scale-up until the beginning of the current century. After that,  with progressive industrialization, the demand for and hence the production of various minerals gradually increased. After India became independent,  the growth of mining under the impact of successive Five Year Plans has been swift. There are ambitious plans in the coal, metalliferous, and oil sectors to  in­crease the production of minerals during the 8th Five Year Plan and after that.

Company Profile: Vedanta Limited, part of Vedanta natural resources group, is one of the world’s largest globally diversified natural resources companies operating across commodities, Zinc, Lead, Silver, Crude Oil, Iron ore, and copper, aluminum, and Metallurgical coal. The company was founded in 1954 as Scambi Economici SA Goa as a mining company. The company’s operations are across Goa, Odisha, Rajasthan, Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, and Punjab. The company is also in the business of power generation with 9000 MW, mostly thermal cock based power plants. The company also holds a stake in BALCO, Hindustan ZINK, with its subsidiary Cairn India. In addition, the company is operative in oil production also.

Share Holding:  BSE Data

Financials and Ratios :   [table id=63 /]

Future Prospects: For the development of the economy, Commodities are essential. Vedanta is a company that is in the business with nearly all major commodities. Crude, Nickel, Zink even partly silver and Power through its subsidiaries in crude oil also. So for a well-diversified portfolio, Vedanta is a good company. The dividend policy states that the entire dividend received from Hindustan Zinc will be passed on to Shareholders of Vedanta. Debt levels are also good. The big difference is because of the merger of Cairn India with the company. Even though the fundamentals are looking strong, management is not good, and history proves that the administration tried to compensate specific people in promoter groups and families unethically.