'We Are Sitting on the Tip of an Iceberg'

My goal: To build an $8 billion company in two years
We are investing Rs. 95,0000 crore in the next three years. We are fully funded. We are investing $1.5 billion in Asarco and though the transaction is not completed, we believe that we will do it. At present prices, we will be an $8 billion company (from the present $6.5 billion) in another two years.

 

Focus for future: Power and optical fibre
We will have two main businesses, mining and power. Power is a natural extension for our business and constitutes 20 percent of our income. There is a third business — optical fibres. Sterlite Technologies is the third largest in the world in making optical fibres. The world demand is 150 million km and we will be producing about 20 million km, which is about 15 percent of world demand. Across the businesses, we have a 40 percent margin. ed

But mining will be the bread and butter .
We want to concentrate on mining and it is simple. We are bulk, raw material producers. We know the business and are good in it. In India, we export half of our production and I don’t like it. We want to develop it in India. We will allow other players around us.
In India, we are sitting on the tip of the iceberg. We haven’t explored even 2 percent of what we have in India.

On the world map
The Western market is absolutely flat. For another 1.5 years to two years, prices will remain in the present levels.
Africa is increasingly becoming attractive because of the low costs. In Zambia, we have reduced costs by one-third and opened up the infrastructure and invested $2 billion there. We have a team that is looking at assets in Central Africa.

India and China
We are looking at India, but here the growth is much slower than in China. But in these two countries, the growth will be in double figures. Though I have got a lot of opportunity in China, we have been here in India for 30 years. I have believed that we should be producing at least 10 percent of the world’s metal production out of India.

Vedanta University
We have a mission. India deserves a multi-disciplinary university on the lines of Harvard. We have plans to invest up to $5 billion. We will have the first academic session in 2011. The first one will be a medical college.