Anil Agarwal's dilemma

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Editor's note: He is like Ramvilas Paswan of Metals." That was a Twitter response to a popular investor who had tweeted: “Anil Agarwal is your lead indicator for the commodities bull market. He buys, we buy. If and when he does the IPO, we sell!!!”  This was on 23 November, when shares of Vedanta Ltd, Agarwal’s flagship company, saw a near 8% jump in response to news that the promoters were planning to increase their stake in Vedanta by buying shares at a 5.5% premium. Just days before, the billionaire entrepreneur had announced a major restructuring exercise at his mining and metals behemoth, with plans to hive off steel, aluminum and oil & gas units into separate companies. Then too, the stock had reacted positively even as the broader markets fell.   The Ram Vilas Paswan comparison is an apt description for Agarwal. The late Paswan, a nine-time parliamentarian, was a master politician who wouldn’t hesitate to align his Lok Janshakti Party with the party he thought had the best chance of winning the next general elections. Even as ruling parties changed after …