Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta contributes Rs 2,35,866 Cr. to public exchequer in 7 years

By Rusen Kumar

Anil Agarwal led Vedanta reported a contribution of about 2,35,866 crore Indian rupees to public exchequer by way of excise duty, customs duty, GST, corporate tax, dividend and others during the last 7 years, which constitutes nearly 43% of its turnover.

According to the industry source, In the present Govt. regime – in the past 7 years – highest paid by any of the corporate so far.

During the FY 2019-20 Vedanta contribution to exchequer was Rs. 33,270 Cr which accounts for 40% of consolidated turnover, company’s 5^th Tax Transparency Report 2019-20 said.

Direct Economic Value of Rs. 89,032 Cr. has been generated during the year, it said.

In terms of Direct Taxes, the Company’s contribution to the exchequer is amongst the top companies in the private sector.

The total contribution to exchequer is the result of value addition by various business segments across multiple hierarchies of business cycle, the report said.

The report produced on an annual basis is aimed at enhancing trust between business and stakeholders, especially in those countries in which it operates.

Vedanta Limited, a diversified natural resource company engaged in exploring, extracting and processing minerals and oil and gas, is one of the world’s largest suppliers of natural resources, with primary operations in zinc-lead-silver, iron ore, steel, copper, aluminium, power, oil & gas.

The company paid Rs. 9,900 Cr towards royalties to the state governments of Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Goa and Karnataka based on extraction of bauxite, lead-zinc, iron ore, Crude oil and natural gas.

The company has adopted guiding tax principle to maintain high standards of integrity with respect to tax compliance and reporting.

“We enhance value by driving both direct and indirect positive economic impacts through a wide range of tax contributions in the nature of Corporate Income taxes, royalties, profit oil, withholding taxes and Indirect taxes.”, the company said

“Vedanta supports the principles of greater transparency that increases understanding of tax systems and build public trust.”, it said.

Business spread of contribution to exchequer

Sustainable Development and corporate social responsibility (CSR) is integral to core business strategy.

Vedanta contributed Rs. 296 crores as a voluntary community investment towards various community development programmes.

“We continue to be a transparent and responsible corporate citizen; committed to a ‘social license to operate’ and partner with communities, local governments and academic institutions to help catalyse socio-economic development in the areas where we operate.”, the company said.

The company has formed an internal Tax Council which acts as an overarching governing body to the tax function as a whole, which plays a key role in ensuring that all the businesses across the group duly comply with the tax governance policies and tax strategy of the group.

Transparency is a core value as businesses firmly believe in long term sustainable value creation for their multiple stakeholders including the government and society at large. Many businesses remain at the forefront of tax reporting by managing their tax affairs in a succinct and straightforward manner.

(Rusen Kumar writes on CSR, Sustainability, Corporate Governance, Business Affairs and Responsible Business. He is the founder of India CSR Network)