Vedanta's Anil Agarwal calls for policies to reduce dependence on imports

Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, batting for a better policy environment to raise investments and reduce India’s dependence on imports of natural resources.

“We would like to see policies and legislation conducive to ensuring greater investment in the natural resources sector to make India self-sufficient and take away its dependency on imports,” he wrote in the letter dated September 12.

During the first round of oil and gas auction under the Open Acreage Licensing Policy, Vedanta got the maximum number of 41 blocks. A contract in this regard is set to be signed with the government on October 1. India is planning to bring down its crude oil imports by 10 per cent by 2022.

In his letter, Agarwal has shared the company's tax transparency report. During the 2017-18 financial year, Vedanta contributed approximately Rs330 billion to the exchequer, which was 36 per cent of its turnover. The company claims to be the only one in India to come out with a tax transparency report, showing its contributions to the exchequer of the countries where it operates.