About

Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured? The legal team at Vedanta has a total strength of around sixty talented lawyers spread across twelve business units, headed by our group general counsel, Nitin Banerjee. He is an international corporate commercial lawyer with over 20 years of industry experience has been associated with the Vedanta Group since 2017. We follow a de-centralised team structure with independent legal teams at each of our business units, headed by respective BU legal heads, along with a corporate legal team at the centre, collectively headed by the group general counsel. In addition we also have a unique feature of a “Legal Council” (LC), a collegium consisting of the most senior members of our legal team from our different business verticals, which is responsible for providing overall guidance and advice on key strategic matters at the group level and play a critical role toward driving the overall vision and charter for the legal function. Our legal team has the following broad areas of functioning: business advisory; disputes and litigation; risk assurance and management; compliance; contract management (entire contract life-cycle); policy advocacy; ethics and corporate governance; issues having reputational impact; intellectual property management. What are the most significant projects that your legal team has been involved with in the last two years? Vedanta’s diversified operations and ongoing expansion projects in different verticals, has provided the team ample opportunities to work and advise on various complex matters and transactions in the domestic as well as international jurisdictions – ranging from handling pertinent litigation, international arbitrations, closing deals under the IBC, providing strategic and legal advice on various treasury and M&A transactions undertaken by the company. In a significant development for Vedanta, the legal team secured a favourable award from the National Green Tribunal, New Delhi to reopen our Tuticorin copper plant in December 2018. This case received excessive media coverage based on false understanding of the ground level situations. The legal team’s expertise and knowledge was instrumental in securing this award which lay to rest various misconceptions and false ideas being circulated in the public domain. The legal team has also successfully challenged the liquidation proceedings initiated against our copper mines in Zambia, securing a favourable order from the High Court in Johannesburg granting an interim stay against the said liquidation proceedings. In a major win for the business, the team played a pivotal role in group’s entry into the steel vertical with the first ever successful acquisition of Electrosteel Steels under the IBC in June 2018. We consequently also secured favourable awards upholding the transaction, from both the NCLT (Kolkata Bench) and the NCLAT (New Delhi) in 2018. In yet another major breakthrough, Vedanta also secured oil and gas blocks under the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) for exploration with the help of the legal team in navigating the newly introduced OALP regime and the gruelling bidding process. The team is currently facilitating the process of negotiating end-to-end contracts with entities all over the world to begin exploration operations in all 41 blocks, which is a first of its kind initiatives in the world. The team is currently also handling a London seated arbitration in a multibillion dollar tax dispute filed against the Government of India under a Bilateral Investment Treaty. The in-house team has also been handling two Malaysian seated arbitrations, pertaining to interpretation of oil and gas contracts. In addition, legal also played a vital role in assisting the treasury in formalising and putting in place a restructured trade financing model to raise significant funds for the company. Providing strategic inputs, ensuring proper review and drafting of contracts and related documentation were key in working the innovative and unconventional structure; while safeguarding the company’s interests and minimising any undue risk and liabilities. Further, the company became the first in Asia to digitally issue commercial papers on blockchain, shortening the laborious process running into hours to just few minutes. The team’s role came to the fore front in ensuring complete process transparency and the legal authenticity and enforceability of the documents. Vedanta recently also successfully raised US$1bn via bond issue which is widely distributed in the European, US and Asian markets. The legal team’s role was critical in assuring compliance with multiple international jurisdictional requirements, carrying out proper due diligence of the documentation to be filed, coordinating with legal counterparts in other geographies and also leading the discussions with the several international banks involved in the transaction. What will be the main focus for Vedanta in the next 12 months and how does the team intend to assist with this? In addition to the abovementioned litigation, arbitration and various transactional matters, the team is also actively involved in the following:

The business in its ramp up of production of zinc, silver, aluminium and steel, would majorly depend on the legal function to provide clarity and ensure compliance with the regulatory and statutory framework to meet its targets. Further, as part of Vedanta’s wider expansion projects, the team would also facilitate the group in its broader expansion plans through M&As and other potential acquisitions under the IBC. Further, the closure of our business units at Goa and Tuticorin has not only adversely affected the national economy but also had an impact on the local communities in terms of job losses as well local vendors losing out on their business. The legal team will therefore continue to drive its legal and policy advocacy initiatives by engaging with the government and local communities to restart its operations at these locations. Additionally, our in-house legal team also closely works to enable the company’s continued pursuits in the arena of Corporate Social Responsibility and lends their legal expertise in the implementation of the CSR framework including the setting up of Nand Ghars (education centres) in various parts of the country.