Sunil Duggal, Group CEO of Vedanta, on Wednesday, said that the Evergrande impact (debt crisis) on metal prices is only a knee-jerk reaction.

The Evergrande (property developer in China) situation has had, of course, a slightly broader impact across asset classes. Metal prices are under pressure, metal stocks in the equity market have been under pressure as well over the last couple of days and copper, aluminium, iron ore, a lot of these commodities have corrected to an extent, at least from the peaks.

“This could be a knee-jerk reaction. China demand has gone down temporarily but the commodity prices and the commodity demand is going to stay because the world is looking different,” Duggal said, in an interview to CNBC-TV18.

Also Read: How property giant Evergrande's fallout can hit metal prices, explained

On business, he said, “We are interested in diversifying our portfolio. So, whichever opportunity comes, either through NCLT or disinvestment of the public sector, we will definitely look into that. We are also participating in various auctions. Two years back, we got licenses; two in Maharashtra and one in Chhattisgarh for gold. So, we will keep adding to our portfolio.”

He further said that Vedanta will either exit the steel business or look at becoming the top-three player in India.

According to him, Vedanta’s steel capacity will move from 1.5 million tonne to 4 million tonne in the next few years.

For the entire management interview, watch the video

(Edited by : Dipika Ghosh)