Axis, HDFC, ICICI Fund Vedanta Aluminium's First Major Loan Since Group Split

Vedanta Aluminium Metal has secured close to ₹13,500 crore ($1.4 billion) in loans from Axis Bank, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank, according to a Bloomberg report. This is the first major local-currency loan raised by any Vedanta entity since billionaire Anil Agarwal's conglomerate was legally split into separate companies.

Axis Bank has signed on for ₹5,500 crore and will lead the syndication of part of the loan. HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank are jointly contributing the remaining ₹8,000 crore, the report said. Interest rates on the loans range from 7.9% to 8%, with repayment tenors stretching between six and a half and seven years. The funds will go toward refinancing debt that Vedanta Aluminium inherited when it was still part of the combined Vedanta structure.

Why This Matters For Vedanta's Split

An Indian court cleared Vedanta's restructuring into five separately listed companies in December. Four of them, spanning aluminium, power, oil and gas, and iron ore, started trading independently in June. The aluminium unit's ability to raise this scale of debt on its own signals that the split entities are gaining financial independence, a key goal behind the demerger.

That independence has also shown up in credit ratings. Crisil Ratings upgraded several Vedanta group firms last month, lifting Vedanta Aluminium to AA+ with a stable outlook and pointing to improved financial flexibility. Separately, ICICI Securities projected in a report last month that the unit's net debt could fall below ₹10,000 crore by financial year 2028, citing strong cash flows.

The loan also comes at a time of broader credit growth in India. RBI data shows bank lending rose 17.7% to ₹217.3 lakh crore as of July 15, nearly double the pace seen a year earlier.

A New Demerger Underway

Even as the aluminium unit raises fresh debt, Vedanta is preparing to spin off another business, this time its real estate holdings, into a new company called Vedanta Property Platforms. Existing Vedanta shareholders will get one share of the new entity for every 20 shares they hold, once the scheme of arrangement clears regulatory approval. The company intends to list the new entity on the BSE and NSE.

The real estate unit is relatively small compared to Vedanta's overall business, with a turnover of just ₹1.26 crore in FY26, or 0.001% of the parent company's standalone turnover. Vedanta has described the assets being spun off as roughly 2,200 acres of industrial land and 55,000 sq ft of residential and commercial space. These assets, comprising land parcels, flats, buildings and bungalows, are located across Maharashtra, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Karnataka.