AGM - Chairman's Statement

01 August 2013

Vedanta Resources plcAGM - Chairman's Statement

Anil Agarwal, Chairman of Vedanta Resources plc, will deliver the following statement at the Annual General Meeting which is being held at 3pm today, 01 August 2013.

Dear Shareholders,

Vedanta has delivered another set of strong results, driven by production ramp-ups and continued efficient cost management across our diversified portfolio of Tier-1 assets. We have delivered this against a continued backdrop of challenging economic conditions and volatile commodity prices.

We remain focused on creating long term value for our shareholders. Driven by a robust operating performance, we delivered a 21% growth in EBITDA to US$4.9 billion, despite lower commodity prices. With significant growth in free cash flow after capex, we reduced our net debt by US$1.5 billion and maintained a progressive dividend, increasing the total dividend by 5% to 58 US cents per share.

I would like to highlight that we achieved an impressive 32% increase in oil & gas production driven by higher output at the Rajasthan block, and record production of mined zinc-lead and silver at Zinc India. One of the significant milestones was recommencing oil & gas exploration at Rajasthan, where we also achieved a discovery in April. Our iron ore operations were affected by the state-wide iron ore mining restrictions in Karnataka and Goa. In April 2013, the Supreme Court of India has allowed mining to recommence in Karnataka. The court continues to hear the matter for Goa.

Regarding the Niyamgiri project of the Orissa Mining Corporation, the Supreme Court of India ordered in April that the unsettled and fresh claims of local communities under the Forest Rights Act be placed before the local village councils. Following this, the Ministry of Environment and Forests is to take a final decision on the matter.

The Group structure simplification has made significant progress, and has been approved by shareholders and the High Court of Bombay at Goa as well as the High Court of Madras. An appeal filed against the order of the High Court of Bombay at Goa before the Division Bench of the same court has been heard, and the order is awaited.

We continue to focus on driving value-accretive phased growth across our diversified portfolio of low cost-assets, which have a favourable market position in India and other emerging markets. For instance, with a strong positioning in the Indian crude oil market and the potential for further upside at the proven Rajasthan block, we plan to invest c.80% of our US$3 billion oil & gas capex programme on the Rajasthan block over the next three years. At our low-cost Zinc India business, we plan to grow mined metal capacity by 20% to 1.2mtpa driven primarily by brown field expansion projects over the next six years, further leveraging on the success of our exploration and the quality of our assets.

Sustainability remains at the core of Vedanta's activities and I believe that business and society prosper together. Following the development and group-wide roll-out of our new sustainability framework last year, we have been implementing this new framework across the Group in order to reduce our risks, preserve our licence to operate, and enhance the value of our business.

I am also delighted that we have recently appointed two new Independent Non-Executive Directors to the Vedanta Board. Mr. Geoffrey Green, who joined our Board in August 2012, has a wealth of knowledge and expertise related to the strategic issues of UK listed companies and the UK corporate governance framework, as a long-serving legal adviser to major listed companies in the UK. Mr. Deepak Parekh, who joined our board on 1 June 2013, has extensive experience in corporate governance and serves on the boards of India's premier housing finance company HDFC, and several other companies such as Lafarge SA in France and DP World Limited in the UAE.

While the performance of some of our operations and projects has been constrained due to external uncertainties, such as evolving regulations and the receipt of regulatory approvals, we remain positive on the prospects for our well balanced and diversified portfolio of low-cost assets, despite the volatility in commodity prices facing the global natural resources sector. We have a strong home base in India, a country that is endowed with significant natural resources, but is a net importer of various resources, especially crude oil. Vedanta is uniquely positioned to develop India's natural resource potential, and contribute to the country's energy security. We continue to work towards generating shareholder returns through measured capital allocation, with a focus on low-risk, phased projects with high returns.

On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank our management team, employees and contractors for their contribution to Vedanta's performance. I thank all our stakeholders, including our shareholders, lenders, partners, governments, vendors and customers, and the communities where we operate, for their continued support.

Anil Agarwal

Chairman

Vedanta Resources plc

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About Vedanta Resources plc

Vedanta Resources plc ("Vedanta") is a London listed FTSE 100 diversified global natural resources major. The group produces aluminium, copper, zinc, lead, silver, iron ore, oil & gas and commercial energy. Vedanta has operations in India, Zambia, Namibia, South Africa, Ireland, Liberia, Australia and Sri Lanka. With an empowered talent pool globally, Vedanta places strong emphasis on partnering with all its stakeholders based on the core values of entrepreneurship, excellence, trust, inclusiveness and growth. For more information, please visit www.vedantaresources.com.

Disclaimer

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" - that is, statements related to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address our expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "should" or "will." Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. For us, uncertainties arise from the behaviour of financial and metals markets including the London Metal Exchange, fluctuations in interest and or exchange rates and metal prices; from future integration of acquired businesses; and from numerous other matters of national, regional and global scale, including those of a political, economic, business, competitive or regulatory nature. These uncertainties may cause our actual future results to be materially different that those expressed in our forward-looking statements. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements.