India Can End Import Dependence if It Unlocks Its Resource Potential, says Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal

New Delhi: Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal called for a decisive push to unlock India’s vast natural resource potential, emphasising that the country must accelerate domestic exploration and production to strengthen energy security and reduce dependence on imports.

Speaking at an industry conclave today, he highlighted the scale of the challenge and noted that India imports over 90% of its oil, more than 95% of copper, and almost 100% of gold, despite possessing significant untapped reserves. India currently imports nearly 90% of its oil, about 95% of its copper and almost 99.5% of its gold. He stressed that the country’s geology is among the richest in the world and has the potential to significantly strengthen India’s energy and mineral security.

He expressed the need to accelerate exploration and mining of natural resources. He stated that India’s public sector enterprises and resource companies have the capacity to increase production several times if supported by enabling policies and faster approvals. He also noted that several underperforming government assets have the potential to significantly increase production with the right investment, management and policy support.

Drawing from Vedanta’s experience of turning around previously state-owned companies, Agarwal said that production in several assets including Hindustan Zinc and Bharat Aluminium Company increased five to ten times after privatisation and professional management, demonstrating the untapped potential within India’s resource sector. In a recent post, Agarwal noted that Vedanta acquired Hindustan Zinc and BALCO under a privatisation programme which was never fully completed, and that the government still retains 26% and 49% stakes respectively. Notably, Vedanta has contributed ₹4.5 lakh crore to the government exchequer over the last ten years.

The Vedanta Chairman emphasised the need to empower entrepreneurs and simplify regulatory frameworks to unlock investments and innovation. He called for greater reliance on self-certification and trust-based governance, arguing that excessive regulatory intervention often delays projects and discourages risk-taking. He added that India should move towards self-certification instead of lengthy approvals and clearances, where the government sets the rulebook and entrepreneurs comply strictly, subject to audit.

Against the backdrop of the West Asia crisis and disruption risks around the Strait of Hormuz, Agarwal highlighted the strategic importance of domestic production. He suggested that India must rapidly scale up exploration of oil, gas, coal, strategic metals and critical minerals to safeguard energy security and reduce long-term vulnerability to global supply shocks.

He added that India’s energy demand is expected to double in the coming years, making it imperative for the country to diversify and strengthen its domestic energy ecosystem.

Agarwal stressed that opening up India’s resource sectors could significantly boost economic growth. According to him, unlocking domestic reserves across sectors such as oil, gas, copper, coal, gold and fertilisers would lead to large-scale job creation, higher government revenues and reduced import dependence. He also noted that the natural resources sector has historically contributed some of the highest revenues to the government exchequer in India and globally, playing a key role in nation-building.

He also highlighted India’s potential to build globally competitive resource companies.

Concluding his remarks, Agarwal highlighted the importance of collaboration between government, industry and global investors to mobilise large-scale capital for the sector. He noted that India remains one of the most attractive destinations globally for long-term investments in natural resources and energy infrastructure.