Vedanta shares in focus after OCCRP report on ‘covert’ lobbying campaign

Shares of Vedanta will be in focus on Friday morning after the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) suggested the Anil Agarwal-led company ran a 'covert' lobbying campaign to weaken key environmental regulations during the Covid-19 pandemic. As per the OCCRP report, the Vedanta Group Chairman told former environment minister Prakash Javadekar the government could add ‘impetus' to India's economic recovery by allowing mining companies to boost production by up to 50 per cent without having to secure new environmental clearances, Reuters reported OCCRP as saying.

The OCCRP's report on Vedanta has come a day after the media group published a report on Adani Group suggesting the group family used opaque funds to invest in stocks. As per the fresh OCCRP report, Vedanta's oil business, Cairn India, also successfully lobbied to have public hearings scrapped for exploratory drilling in oil blocks it won in government auctions, Reuters reported.

"India’s government approved the changes without public consultation and implemented them using what experts say are illegal methods," the report suggested, adding that "Since then, six of Cairn’s controversial oil projects in Rajasthan have been approved despite local opposition."

Previous industry efforts to push for a similar change had stalled, the report said adding that "this time, Agarwal would get what he wanted."

Vedanta told OCCRP that as "one of the leading natural resources organisations in India" the company operated "with an objective of import substitution by enhancing domestic production in a sustainable manner."

"In view of the same, continuous representations are submitted for consideration to the government in the best interest of national development and India's march towards self-reliance in natural resources," a company spokesperson told OCCRP.

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