Vedanta subsidiary Hindustan Zinc eyes boost in output under Priya Agarwal Hebbar
Hindustan Zinc, a Vedanta subsidiary, aims to boost zinc output by 50% under the leadership of Priya Agarwal Hebbar by end of March 2025
PremiumVedanta subsidiary Hindustan Zinc is targeting jump in output under the leadership of Priya Agarwal Hebbar. World's second largest integrated zinc producer aims to accelerate plan s to decarbonize operations under Chairwoman, which is daughter of Vedanta founder and chairman Anil Agarwal.
The non-executive director at Hindustan Zinc's parent company Vedanta Resources Ltd., Priya Agarwal Hebbar will be steering the company through a period of expansion. The company aims to take advantage of a splurge of infrastructure building in India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of green economy.
India's largest zinc producer had said last week that it is used to galvanize steel to prevent rusting. The zinc maker went on to add that it want to grow its annual mined metal output to 1.5 million tons, from around 1 million tons now. The zinc maker said that it aims to achieve this target by end of FY25 i.e. by end of March 2025. So, the company aims to boost its mined metal output by 50 per cent under the leadership of Priya Agarwal Hebbar in next two years.
Priya Agarwal Hebbar, who took over as Chairwoman of Hindustan Zinc at the beginning of 2023 said in an interview, “When we are looking at infrastructure development, we are looking at the growth of steel," adding, “And to create sustainable infrastructure, it needs to be galvanized steel."
Hindustan Zinc will spend $1 billion over the next decade to cut its current dependence on coal, said Agarwal Hebbar. Most of that money would go toward replacing coal as the major energy source for its smelters with solar and wind, she said.
A deal with Serentica Renewables, who will supply Hindustan Zinc with 450 megawatts of solar and wind power a year, will help cut coal use at its smelters in half by the end of 2025, Agarwal Hebbar said. The company is also targeting 75% electrification of its fleet of mining vehicles by 2035 and 100% five years later, she said.
It’s also possible that the zinc producer will expand into mining or refining of metals that are crucial to the energy transition.
India is entering a nation-building phase, supporting demand for steel and other metals. The world’s third-largest emitter is also moving to wean itself off coal — which generates about 70% of its power — and has plans to expand into clean-energy technologies.
In June, New Delhi released a list of minerals — including copper, lithium and nickel — that it considers critical for its economic growth and where it sees supply risks. It also amended mining laws last month to make it easier for private miners to search for some minerals including lithium.
(With inputs from Bloomberg)
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