(Reuters) -U.S.-based Viceroy Research has taken a short position against the debt of Vedanta Resources, the UK-based parent of Indian miner Vedanta, alleging that the British firm is “systematically draining” its Indian unit.
The report comes as Vedanta plans to split into multiple separate listed entities. Group Chairman Anil Agarwal launched the plan in 2023 to overhaul the business following an unsuccessful attempt to take Vedanta private in 2020.
Vedanta Resources said in June 2024 that it will seek to cut its debt pile by $3 billion in the following three years.
“The entire group structure is financially unsustainable, operationally compromised, and poses a severe, under-appreciated risk to creditors,” short seller Viceroy Research said, adding that its investigation had uncovered material quantitative and qualitative discrepancies.
The Vedanta Group did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the Viceroy Research report.
Shares of the Indian miner fell as much as 7.8% after the report, before trimming some losses to trade 4.8% lower by 0723 GMT. The shares were down roughly 1% before the report.
As of March 31, 2025, Vedanta Resources’ net debt on a standalone basis stood at $4.9 billion, according to its annual report.
(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee, Chandini Monnappa and Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)
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