10150% Dividend: Vedanta Stock Gains 2% Despite George Soros-Backed OCCRP's Report

After power-to-port conglomerate Adani Group, George Soros-backed Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) took a jibe at mining giant Vedanta. Billionaire Anil Agarwal-backed company is accused of lobbying campaigns to weaken environmental regulations in India since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Surprisingly, Vedanta, which is one of the highest dividend-paying stocks in the market, shrugged off OCCRP's allegations and traded higher. The large-cap stock has rallied by nearly 2% so far in the early trade.

At the time of writing, Vedanta stock traded at Rs 235.45 apiece, up by 1.33% on BSE. The stock was near its day's high of Rs 236.80 apiece. However, the stock did touch an intraday low of Rs 231.95 apiece in the early trade which was near its 52-week low of Rs 231.60 apiece but it gained momentum soon after.

So far in the day, the stock gained by at least 1.9% on the exchange.

At the current market price, Vedanta has a market cap of over Rs 87,577 crore.

In its latest report dated August 31, OCCRP said, "As the COVID-19 pandemic swept across India, major mining and oil company Vedanta quietly lobbied the government to dilute environmental safeguards regulating the oil and mining industries."

Key findings of the OCCRP report were:

- Mining and oil giant Vedanta ran a covert lobbying campaign to weaken key environmental regulations during the pandemic.

- India's government approved the changes without public consultation and implemented them using what experts say are illegal methods.

- In one case, Vedanta led a push to ensure mining companies could produce up to 50 per cent more without new environmental approvals.

- Vedanta's oil business, Cairn India, also successfully lobbied to have public hearings scrapped for exploratory drilling in oil blocks it won in government auctions.

- Since then, six of Cairn's controversial oil projects in Rajasthan have been approved despite local opposition.

To understand how key environmental regulations were modified during the pandemic, OCCRP combed through thousands of government documents obtained using freedom of information requests, it said.

OCCRP claimed that the records - ranging from internal memos and the minutes of closed-door meetings to letters like the one from Agarwal - show government officials tailored the rules in line with requests made by the industry, and in particular Vedanta.

However, Vedanta did respond to OCCRP on its queries. Vedanta told the investigative journalists network that "one of the leading natural resources organizations in India" the company operated "with an objective of import substitution by enhancing domestic production in a sustainable manner."

"Given the same, continuous representations are submitted for consideration to the Government in the best interest of national development and India's march towards self-reliance in natural resources," a spokesperson wrote in an email to OCCRP.

Vedanta is a leading global natural resources and technology conglomerate operating across India, South Africa, Liberia and Namibia.

The company is also among the highest dividend-paying stocks listed in the Indian market. For the full year FY23, Vedanta delivered a breathtaking 10150% dividend aggregating to Rs 101.5 per share to its shareholders.

Also, so far in the current financial 2023-24, the company has already declared the first interim dividend of a whopping 1850% or Rs 18.50 per share.

Vedanta's dividend yield in the last 12 months stood at 29%, making it the top dividend yield firm in the large-cap segment.