By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta Group on Tuesday said Enforcement Directorate (ED has carried out searches in some of the company’s offices including that of its subsidiary Hindustan Zinc Ltd amid heightened corporate attention surrounding the ongoing resolution process of the debt-laden Jaypee Group.
“We hereby inform that the Enforcement Directorate team visited some offices of our Company and Hindustan Zinc Limited, a subsidiary of the Company. The Company is extending its full co-operation to the authorities and providing all information sought,” the Company said in a regulatory filing on the BSE.
The shares of Vedanta fell marginally by 1.10 percent to 333.55 on the BSE.
ED Officials did not immediately disclose the exact nature of the investigation or the specific allegations being examined. Media reports indicated that the searches were conducted under provisions of financial and economic laws being probed by the agency.
Agarwal had publicly indicated Vedanta’s interest in acquiring certain Jaypee assets and suggested that the company was prepared to compete aggressively in the bidding process. His remarks were widely viewed as a challenge to rival bidders, including entities associated with Gautam Adani-led interests that have also been linked to discussions around infrastructure and cement assets.
The Jaypee Group has been undergoing a prolonged debt resolution process, with several of its businesses and assets attracting interest from major corporate houses seeking to expand their footprint in sectors such as cement, infrastructure and power. Industry analysts say the outcome of the bidding process could significantly reshape competition in these sectors.
Agarwal’s son Agnivesh died of cardiac arrest in a New York hospital recently at the age of 49. The incident followed a skiing accident in the US after which he had been convalescing at a hospital.
“My beloved son, Agnivesh, left us far too soon. He was just 49 years old, healthy, full of life, and dreams. Following a skiing accident in the US, he was recovering well in Mount Sinai Hospital, New York. We believed the worst was behind us. But fate had other plans, and a sudden cardiac arrest snatched our son away from us,” Agarwal said in a heartfelt post.