Capital market regulator SEBI has levied a penalty of ₹30 lakh on Anil Agarwal-owned Vedanta for breaching disclosure norms.
Last February, a news agency had published a news item saying “Vedanta partners with Foxconn to make semiconductors in India”. When exchanges had sought clarification, the company said “..the proposed business of manufacturing semiconductors is not under Vedanta and we understand that it will be undertaken by the holding company of Vedanta, Volcan Investments.”
In contradiction, last September the company issued a press release stating that “Vedanta signs MoUs with Gujarat Government to set up semiconductors and display fab units”.
Upon seeking clarification by the NSE, the company said the press release was made inadvertently on Vedanta’s letterhead and the same was immediately replaced.
Following this, SEBI has levied the penalty on the company for making false representations through press release on its letterhead regarding a material event, which was not pertaining to the listed entity and publishing the press release on its website.