India Ratings revises Vedanta Ltd's outlook to positive

India Ratings and Research (Ind- Ra) today said it has revised Vedanta Ltd's outlook to positive from stable, while affirming its rating at 'IND AA'.
"Ind-Ra has revised Vedanta Ltds outlook to positive from stable while affirming the long-term issuer rating at 'IND AA'," the rating agency said in a statement.
The positive outlook shows the start of volume ramp-up of the metals and mining conglomerate in the ongoing fiscal specially in aluminium and zinc, which might continue, Ind-Ra said.
"The volume ramp-up in aluminium will be supported by the restart of pots at plant 1 and commissioning of new pots at plant 2 in Jharsuguda by 3QFY17, while zinc volumes will be supported by increased mining along with debottlenecking of smelting capacity," the rating agency stressed.

The iron ore business volume, it said, could also see an increase, given the likely rise in the Goa's mining limits.
"Cumulatively, Vedanta would incur capex of USD 1.1 billion-1.2 billion in FY18 with USD 250 million in the oil and gas business in FY19 to achieve the required volume growth," the statement said.