India's business environment better now: Vedanta's Agarwal

Vedanta Resources Founder and Chairman Anil Agarwal on Monday said that he faced challenges while listing his company 17 years ago, but now the business environment has improved.

Interestingly, this comes against the backdrop of Agarwal's statement last Friday, when he took a dig at the legal and regulatory issues in the country's business environment, quipping that he has borrowed less from banks in India due to fear of unwarranted investigations by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and other agencies.

He had also said that in contrast to the US and China where government helps private players for setting up projects, in India, several hindrances come from the government, NGOs and locals.

In a tweet on Monday, the mining baron said: "Reiterating what I said at the @ficci_india AGM. 17yrs ago, I faced challenges while listing the company. Today the business environment has improved. Ease of Doing Business in India is conducive, has helped industries to invest & is making India a preferred destination for FDIs."

At the 92nd Annual General Meeting of industry body FICCI, Agarwal had said that the government should treat private companies fairly, as they create the most jobs and pay large amounts of taxes.

"The private sector should be given opportunities to create large scale employment. Today, the business fraternity is witnessing that whenever the government has entrusted us, we have delivered," he had said.

Vedanta Ltd, Hindustan Zinc Ltd and Bharat Aluminium Company (BALCO) are the subsidiaries of Vedanta Resources operating in India. On Friday, Agarwal had also told media that his company would consider bidding for the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd.

A globally diversified natural resources company, Vedanta Resources is headquartered in London and was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2003.IANS