With the intention to strengthen its metal, mining and electricity generation operations in India, Vedanta Resources, the UK-listed mining group, has decided to invest around USD 20 billion in the country over the next four years (2012).

The recent move by Vedanta, that controls Sterlite Industries, India’s largest maker of non-ferrous metals including aluminium, copper and zinc, would follow recent acquisitions such as its USD 2.6 billion takeover of US copper producer Asarco last month.

The yearly demand for copper in India was increasing 8-10%, aluminium 10-12% and zinc 13-14%, Vedanta said.

India generates 89 minerals and is one of the world’s major resource-rich countries, ranking third in the production of coal, fourth in iron ore, sixth in bauxite and 10th in aluminium.

Vedanta is the biggest private sector group in India to try to take advantage of this opportunity, with targeted production of 1 million tons each in its zinc, copper and aluminium operations.

The company has decided to invest around USD 8.8 billion in order to meet up these targets by strengthning its smelting plants and mining operations for these metals, mostly in India.

The group is also flourishing iron ore capacity at Sesa Goa, a mine in Goa, India, purchased from Mitsui in 2007, by about double to 25 m tpa.

Besides its mines and smelters, Vedanta is building up a network of commercial power plants having generating capacity of 10,000 megawatts, requiring investment of about USD 10 billion.

The company plans to fund the development from a mix of cash and debt. It already has USD 5.5 billion in cash on the balance sheet.