Rising Above the Odds: How This Indian Mining Firm Emerged As a Global Leader Priya Agarwal Hebbar, chairperson, Hindustan Zinc Limited and non-executive director at Vedanta, delivered a keynote at Entrepreneur 2024. She shared insights into building a robust framework, focus on setting global benchmarks, importance of critical minerals and the vision for Vedanta 2.0
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The journey of entrepreneurship is akin to running a marathon: There is exhilaration. From the mediaeval age to the vibrant entrepreneurial landscape of today: India's entrepreneurial story is a tale of transformation, acceleration and disruption. One such company which has phenomenally contributed to this evolution is Vedanta. The company has so far invested over $35 billion in the country and contributes around 1.4 per cent of the national GDP.
"Today, as I stand before you, I stand in anticipation of an aspirational India. A story of India that we have been building together," said Priya Agarwal Hebbar, delivering the keynote at Entrepreneur 2024 annual summit. She is the chairperson of Hindustan Zinc, a subsidiary of Vedanta Group. Vedanta is the brainchild of Hebbar's father, Anil Agarwal, popularly known as the metal king.
Change may be inevitable, however, transformation is a choice which has been gracefully adopted by Indians. The country is going through the most unprecedented transformation in human history: Transition period of industries, infrastructure, dreams, emotions and that of belief. "The story of India's GDP growth is an incredible one. With a GDP growth of more than seven percent, India is already more than a $3.5 trillion economy and according to India's former chief economic advisor, we are on track to be a $55 trillion economy. We started at a debt-based economy during our independence, after which it took us 67 years to reach one trillion, eight years to reach the second trillion and just five years after that to reach three trillion. This is the pace and scale of progress in our nation," she said.
She is an advocate of sustainability. A firm believer that this journey of progress has a critical backbone — the earth and the value it holds below the surface – without which there can be no development.
"India's economic growth is going to be highly mineral intensive, based on the development agenda of our government. Be it technology, housing or any part of the clean energy transition such as solar panels, wind turbines or EVs, everything will need a large supply of minerals. Just to put in perspective, for a $55 trillion economy, we will need about two billion tons of steel, 60 million tons of aluminium and 15 million tons of copper by 2047 and even if we attain 70 per cent of the numbers, the rise in demand will still be a lot. And to make ourselves truly atmanirbhar, India should focus on producing these commodities domestically in the most sustainable manner," she explained.
As many as 20 years ago, Vedanta envisioned India as a self-reliant country in the natural resources sector, today, it has built the largest aluminium smelter in the world, in the state of Orissa. Vedanta is the world's second largest producer of zinc and third largest producer of silver. The company accounts for more than 25 per cent of India's gas and oil energy production, "The most exciting part is that we are working towards ensuring all of this is done with 100 per cent renewable energy. Vedanta 2.0 is committed to India's energy transition, we have India's first underground battery operated vehicles!" she added.
The company is the largest buyer of renewable energy in the world, surpassing global giants like Google. "We are setting global benchmarks and proving how mining can augment climate action and to further attain our goals, we have made five of our businesses water positive. Vedanta alone has planted two million trees in our country and with all these initiatives and more to go, we are number three in the world with our S&P rankings of sustainability and our subsidiary Hindustan Zinc is the foremost sustainable mining company in the world. As per a report by the World Bank for global net zero transition, an estimate of $1.7 trillion in global mining investment is needed. This is a big opportunity for a mineral rich country like India to attract investments, create jobs and give an impetus to economic growth," added.
The world has immense trust in India's spirit of entrepreneurship: This growth will provide equal opportunities to the ones who are willing to be a part of the story. "Let us leverage the plethora of opportunities that India is now home to, I am not only confident but excited to see this story unfold," she concluded.
