Monday, July 16, 2012


Vedanta Resources founder Anil Agarwal wants to pledge three-fourths of his wealth to philanthropy

Source: The Economic Times

 Kausik Datta,ET Bureau
Anil Agarwal
The phrase down to earth takes on a deeper meaning when illustratingAnil Agarwal and his ambition of becoming a global giant to reckon with in natural resources. The 58-year-old chairman of London-headquartered Vedanta Resources likes to relate his pursuit of reserves like iron ore, bauxite, and oil and gas with the patriotic film number "Mere desh ki dharti, sona ugle, ugle heere moti" ("The land of my country produces gold, diamonds and pearls"). It does, after all, convey what he is trying to do quite nicely: to dig underground for precious resources; and to find a chunk of those resources — which he is convinced is the only way to eradicate poverty — in Indian soil.

Agarwal has lost none of the fire that's enabled him to graduate from a scrap trader to the founder of an $11.4-billion enterprise with a presence in metals, oil and gas, power and mining. He now wants to be counted in the same breath as BHP Billiton of Australia, Vale of Brazil and Rio Tinto of the United Kingdom. Still, it isn't too difficult to catch Agarwal in a mellow mood — as he was on this call from his London headquarters on Berkeley Street with this writer.

Fistful of Dollars

Agarwal takes a walk down childhood memory lane when he would visit the Ganges not too far from his home in Patna. "No matter how much of the water [from the river] you try to hold in your hands, some of it will always flow out. You can hold only as much as your hands permit." He has a reason to bring back that memory: it's a lesson not to make an illusive effort to cling to all of one's wealth.

"One-fourth of my wealth will be enough for my family," declares Agarwal, whose net worth in 2011 was estimated at $3.5 billion. Four decades after leaving Patna for Mumbai at age 19, Agarwal says he will pledge three fourths of his wealth to educate and provide nutrition to underprivileged children.

"I will spend most of my time on philanthropy before I turn 60," says Agarwal, who plans to model his efforts on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which supports initiatives in education, health and population control.

Retirement, however, is the last thing on his mind. "I would love to die in my boots," says Agarwal, adding that he will continue to craft strategy and let his A-team execute it.

Dress and Address

Agarwal has mellowed but he's not gone totally soft, either. He plans to treble oil production at Cairn India, which he acquired in 2011, to 500,000 barrels a day in two years. He also plans to pump $10.3 billion into his mint flagship Sesa Sterlite — the merger is in the process of receiving various approvals — between 2012 and 2015 as capital expenditure.

If Agarwal is revealing a humble side to his larger-than-life personality, it's perhaps because he hasn't forgotten his modest and difficult beginnings. On his first visit to Mumbai in 1976, he stayed in a five-star hotel to impress his customers, never mind that he was living on fruits from stalls outside the hotel. And when he would go out to meet clients, he would be clad in suits stitched at Kachins, a famous tailoring shop in Mumbai that has designed costume wardrobes for heroes of Hindi films in the 70s.

"Dress and address are very important in business. They open up doors," avers the man who now owns a house in Mayfair in central London and two sea-facing houses in Mumbai. He employs the best chauffeurs and butlers, and dines at top restaurants like The Arts Club and Harry's Bar in London; and will hold a glass of Bordeaux wine at a party more as a show of authority than of a connoisseur. And, yes, the suits today are from Savile Row.

Global Footprint

Agarwal's image as an international citizen sits well with his efforts to give the group a global profile. The Sesa Sterlite combine, which will be the group's growth vehicle for all businesses, has assets in outposts in South Africa, Namibia and Ireland (zinc, lead and silver), Liberia (iron ore) and Australia (copper). A quarter of Sesa Sterlite's combined revenues — of Rs 66,431 crore in 2011 — come from overseas assets. The plan in the medium term is to get 40% of business from local operations, 30% from Africa and the rest from other parts of the world.

The portrait of an enthusiastic philanthropist, however, gets marred by Cain-raising activists who are convinced that Agarwal is a marauder of the natural ecosystem. His plans to set up an alumina refinery in Kalahandi in Odisha, for instance, have not moved because of environmental activism. The Vedanta founder counters that agitations such as the one in Kalahandi, a backward area, are unwarranted: land was acquired after paying full compensation, and Rs 13,000 crore was invested.

Agarwal is keen to dispel the view that he is a destroyer of natural habitat. The philanthropic hat he is set to don will go some way in helping that cause. Besides being seen as a do-gooder, the Vedanta founder also wants to be an inspiration for entrepreneurs. "Look at me. I am an ordinary man. If I can do it, why can't you," asks the matriculate from a Hindi-medium school who has addressed students at B-schools from Harvard to Jamnalal Bajaj Institute in Mumbai. 

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