Vedanta rejects Viceroy Research's ₹2,500 crore loan routing claim, says ‘executed in full compliance…'
Vedanta 'strongly rejects the baseless allegations made in the report regarding Vedanta Semiconductors Pvt Ltd (VSPL),' the report citied a statement by company's spokesperson.
'All business activities of VSPL have been transparently disclosed and are in line with statutory norms,' the company said.
The company spokesperson added that Vedanta Ltd. and VSPL have 'consistently reported' the accurate transaction terms, rates, and collateral as per the mandated norms.
'Loans between VSPL and Vedanta Ltd were executed in full compliance with applicable laws, corporate governance standards, and both Vedanta Ltd and VSPL have consistently reported accurate loan terms, interest rates, and collateral in line with statutory norms,' a Vedanta spokesperson told the news agency.
The company also reportedly asked the stakeholders to rely on verified disclosures and audited financial statements.
Viceroy Research openly disclosed its short position against the debt of Vedanta Resources, the parent company of the Indian mining giant, on 9 July 2025, when they claimed that the company is 'systematically draining' its Indian subsidiary.
In the latest development on the allegations saga, the US-based short seller, Viceroy Research, alleged that under the pressure to pay the brand fees, Vedanta Ltd routed ₹ 2,500 crore
'Under pressure to pay brand fees, VEDL routed a ₹ 2,500 crore loan through a company doing ₹ 416 crore in sham operations, hoping regulators didn't look,' said the short seller in its latest report. Viceroy Research released its latest report titled 'Vedanta – Vedanta Semiconductor: ₹ 2,500 Crore Dhoke Ka Sammraajy' on Friday, 18 July 2025.
The report further alleged that VSPL is a 'sham commodities trading operation' which has been designed to avoid the classification of coming under a non-banking financial company (NBFC).
'We believe that Vedanta Limited (VEDL) subsidiary, Vedanta Semiconductors Private Limited (VSPL), is a sham commodities trading operation designed to improperly avoid classification as a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC),' they said in the report.
They also claimed that the alleged loan routing was devised to facilitate Vedanta's remittance of brand fees to its parent company when it faced a severe liquidity crunch.
'This scheme was devised to facilitate VEDL's remittance of brand fees to Vedanta Resources' (VRL) in April 2025, when it faced a severe liquidity crisis,' said Viceroy.
According to the report released on Friday, the short seller claims that Vedanta Semiconductors Private Limited needs an 'operational illusion' of 24 months or 2 years to fulfil its dues to its offshore lenders and hide the 'near-catastrophe' of April 2024.
They also said that even though the credit rating analysts are 'snoozing through the alarm bells,' the Indian regulators are 'famously light sleepers.'
'VSPL's operational illusion needs 24 months of regulatory silence to fulfil its purpose, repaying its offshore lenders and hiding the near-catastrophe of April 2024. While credit analysts are snoozing through the alarm bells, India's regulators are famously light sleepers,' claimed the short seller in its latest report.
In April 2024, the company faced a severe liquidity crisis. The loans granted were allegedly used to fund the May dividend issue and not to pay the brand fees.
'The loan was intended to be used to send up the brand fees but, by the time JPM had sold the debt in the market, they had already been paid so the loan was used to fund the May dividend,' claimed the sort seller in the research report. 'In response, VEDL reactivated VSPL, not as a semiconductor venture, but as a zero-margin trading entity whose operations appear to consist entirely of paper-based commodity trading.'
Vedanta share price closed 0.33% higher at ₹ 445.70 after Friday's stock market session, compared to ₹ 444.25 at the previous market close, according to BSE data.
Former Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud said that Viceroy Research's report on Vedanta 'lacks credibility' and that the company would be well-positioned to seek legal help in the case.
This comes after Vedanta asked for an independent legal opinion on the matter. Chandrachud also highlighted that the US-based firm has a track record of taking short positions in listed companies then publishing 'misleading' reports to unlawfully profit from the stock market impact.
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The Hindu
a minute ago
- The Hindu
In Bihar, a matter of life and debt
Chandra Devi, 53, holds up a loan slip, its creases more prominent than its text. It states that she borrowed a loan of ₹35,000, allegedly from RBL Bank, a private sector institution, in May 2024. 'I have to repay the loan and an interest rate of do taka (2%),' Chandra declares. But the slip states that the interest rate is a hefty 25% over two years. Chandra is sitting in a mango orchard with a group of women at Dekuli Chatti village in Darbhanga district of Bihar. Around her, children climb trees under an overcast sky. Some of them clamber to the top, others hang upside down from branches. Their mothers sit on a yellow plastic sheet spread over the grass. While watching their children's antics, they share their struggles on repaying dues. According to the 2022 caste survey of Bihar, 34% of households in the State earn ₹6,000 or less per month. In June 2025, Piramal Enterprises, an Indian non-banking financial company (NBFC) focused on financial services, published a study. In it, they stated that the share of Indian households from economically weaker sections of society — that is, those earning ₹1-2 lakh a year — who borrowed from formal channels, such as banks and NBFCs, contracted by 4.2% between 2018-19 and 2022-23. At the same time, the share of households borrowing from informal or non-institutional sources of credit, such as money lenders, friends, families, and shopkeepers, grew by 5.8%. The data also shows that Bihar accounts for the highest share (18%) of households in India who borrow from non-institutional lenders. The study was based on data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, an independent private entity that serves as an economic think tank as well as a socioeconomic database. However, many households that borrow from non-institutional lenders also borrow from microfinance institutions, which are regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the country's central bank. The RBI defines a microfinance loan as 'a collateral-free loan given to a household having an annual income up to ₹3,00,000'. According to Sa-Dhan, an RBI-approved self-regulatory body for the microfinance sector, there are 224 such institutions in India. While loans from microfinance institutions help impoverished borrowers across India, borrowers are often unable to repay them and fall behind. They also sometimes run away, fearing that microfinance companies will demand repayment using strong-arm tactics. As a result, many households remain trapped in a cycle of debt. When loans become nightmares Chandra belongs to the Musahar community. Musahars are among the 18 Scheduled Castes in Bihar who were recognised as Mahadalits by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in 2007. They are socially and economically the most backward among Scheduled Castes. Chandra says she doesn't know the name of the bank from which she borrowed a loan; instead, she identifies it by its location — Donar, a locality in Darbhanga. 'I was asked to give my Aadhaar card, nothing else,' she says, about the process of securing the loan. The slip she holds says the loan was taken for 'agriculture-livestock/diary/poultry/cattle' purposes, but Chandra, the mother of two daughters and a son, says she borrowed it for her older daughter's wedding. Before the wedding, the groom's family demanded a motorcycle as part of dowry. Chandra borrowed money from the village mahajan (money lender). When that didn't suffice, she went to a women's self help group (SHG). Finally, she secured a loan, allegedly from RBL Bank. As Chandra's husband has been out of work for several months due to an illness, her family depends entirely on the amount her son sends home. 'He sells apples in Kolkata, so he cannot always send money.' she says. 'After all, everything is so expensive these days.' Chandra also worries that she has a teenage daughter who will 'soon be of marriageable age.' Punam Devi, 42, who is also from the Musahar community, keeps two documents close to her chest. One shows that she took a loan of ₹40,000, allegedly from Pyramid Finserve, an emerging NBFC, in July 2024. Punam borrowed the loan for her younger son, who had been diagnosed with meningitis. The other document shows that she borrowed another loan of ₹75,000, allegedly from Utkarsh Small Finance Bank Limited, a commercial bank focused on 'providing banking and financial services, particularly to underserved and unserved sections of the population, primarily in rural and semi-urban areas.' This loan, borrowed to pay for treatment of her husband who lost a leg in an accident, was cleared on March 23 this year with an interest rate of 28%, as per the document. Punam says she had to pay installments every fortnight. After her husband's accident, the family's income is now nearly negligible, making it all the more challenging for them to repay the loan. Both men were treated at private hospitals. 'We don't get admission in government hospitals,' she says. The other women nod along. Parvati Devi, 38, says her husband works in Bengaluru, Karnataka, as a daily wage labourer. He left 15 days ago and will return only next year. 'We had to borrow money for our eldest daughter's wedding,' says Parvati, who also belongs to the Musahar community. 'We borrowed nearly ₹1.5 lakh from the local money lender four years ago. Unable to repay the loan, I took three loans from three microfinance institutions.' Her total liability amounted to ₹1.35 lakh and she had to pay monthly installments of about ₹7,000. 'Agents never fail to turn up' Chandra, Punam, and Parvati sought loans for weddings or for treatments in hospitals and struggled to repay the amounts. 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Time of India
16 minutes ago
- Time of India
Mutual recognition pacts between India, UK may be ready in 36 months
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Hindustan Times
17 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
NIA court declares Hizb chief Syed Salahuddin proclaimed offender under UAPA
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