Anil Agarwal Biography

About Anil Agarwal

Anil Agarwal ethnically a marwari is the founder and executive chairman of Vedanta Resources. It all started when Anil came down to Mumbai as a scrap dealer in 1976 to build an empire in copper, zinc, aluminum and iron ore after leaving his father's aluminium conductors making business.

Anil studied at Miller High School but left school at 15, to join his fathers business, which too he eventually left and now is the founder of a UK-based corporation. Vedanta Resources Corporation was founded in 1976, the year he came to Mumbai.

Personal Background of Anil Agarwal

Anil Agarwal was born on 24th January 1954 in Patna, Bihar to a lower middle class family whose financial condition was not that strong. His father had a small business of making aluminum conductors. As far as studies are concerned, Anil is a matriculate from Sir Ganesh Dutt Patliputra High School; Bihar where, Lalu Prasad Yadav was his classmate. Anil holds a B.E degree from the Malaviya Regional Engineering College, Jaipur.

Anil Agarwal enjoys cycling, which has been one of the major activities in his childhood too. He is a strict vegetarian and is a devotee of the Hindu God Krishna.

Anil Agarwal is married to his family friend and fellow cyclist, Kiran Gupta. The couple has a son named Agnivesh and a daughter named Priya and now live in London.

Anil Agarwal's Career

Much before the Vedanta Group was found; Anil served as the Chief Operating officer of Orient Ceramics & Industries Ltd and gained an experience of over 31 years as an Industrialist.

In 1976, he founded Sterlite Industries, a business operating in the Industrial sector and then slowly and gradually he developed and founded Vedanta Resources bringing the variety of businesses, owned by the family, together. Later Anil was also the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Sterlite Industries India Ltd; a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources from 1980 to 2004.

He has been a Director of Sterlite Gold Ltd. since January 1999 and Sterlite Industries India Ltd. since 1978. He is the Executive Chairman of Vedanta Resources since March, 2005.

Anil Agarwal has been the Chairman of Sterlite Industries India Ltd. since October 2004. Not only has he been the Non Executive Chairman of Sterlite Technologies Limited since October, 2006 but he also serves as the Chairman of the Board of Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd. (BALCO) and Sterlite Gold Ltd.

Anil is also the Director of Copper Mines Of Tasmania Pty Ltd. He also served as a Director of Hindustan Zinc Ltd (HZL) from April, 2002 to March 2009.

Achievements of Anil Agarwal

Anil Agarwal has a number of Board Members Memberships. Some are as follows:

• Chairman of the Board, Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd.
• Director, Copper Mines of Tasmania Pty Ltd.
• Director, Vedanta Resources Holdings Ltd.
• Non Executive Chairman and Member of Remuneration Committee, Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd.
• Chairman, Member of Compensation & Benefits Committee and Member of Audit Committee, Sterlite Gold Ltd.
• Former Director, Hindustan Zinc Ltd.
• Founder, Executive Chairman, Chairman of Nominations Committee and Member of Executive Committee, Vedanta Resources Plc.
• Non-Executive Chairman, Sterlite Technologies Limited.
• Chairman and Member of Remuneration Committee, Sterlite Energy Ltd.

Vedanta Resources Corporation- Company Profile

• Vedanta Resources Corporation is an LSE-listed diversified FTSE 100 metals and mining company, and India’s largest non-ferrous metals and mining company based on revenues. Its business is principally located in India, one of the fastest growing large economies in the world.
• In addition, it has additional assets and operations in Zambia and Australia. They are primarily engaged in copper, zinc, aluminium and iron ore businesses, and are also developing a commercial power generation business.
• It has experienced significant growth in recent years through various expansion projects for their copper, zinc and aluminum businesses and their acquisition of Sesa Goa in April 2007, which enabled them to enter the iron ore business. Revenue from the businesses increased from $3,701.8 million in fiscal 2006 to $7,930.5 million in fiscal 2010, representing a compound annual growth rate of 21%.
• They believe their experience in operating and expanding their businesses in India will allow them to capitalize on attractive growth opportunities arising from India’s large mineral reserves, relatively low cost of operations and large and inexpensive labor and talent pools.
• They believe they are also well positioned to take advantage of the significant growth in industrial production and investments in infrastructure in India, China, Southeast Asia and the Middle East, which they expect will continue to create strong demand for metals.

Problems faced by Aanil's Vedanta Group

The only major problem faced by Vedanta, the company and Anil was related to the extraction of metals. Anil faced a lot of criticism from activists who opposed Vedanta's plan to extract bauxite from what tribal people say is a sacred mountain in India's impoverished but mineral-rich state of Orissa.

Last Updated on June 15, 2015