Vedanta Ltd Share Price Hits Record High After NCLT Clears Demerger: Latest News, Targets, and Outlook (17 December 2025)

Vedanta Ltd (NSE: VEDL | BSE: 500295) was in sharp focus on Wednesday, 17 December 2025, after the stock extended its rally for a seventh straight session and touched a fresh all-time high around ₹580.45. The run-up has been driven by investor optimism following a major corporate milestone: the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has sanctioned Vedanta’s long-planned demerger into multiple sector-focused listed companies. ^[1]

The immediate market reaction has been emphatic: a demerger of this scale can change how the market values the business, how capital is raised, and how investors get exposure to Vedanta’s diverse portfolio—ranging from aluminium and zinc to oil & gas, power, and ferrous materials. ^[2]

Below is a detailed, news-driven breakdown of what happened, what the NCLT order means, what brokerages are forecasting, and what investors are watching next.

What’s driving Vedanta stock today?

Two forces are colliding in Vedanta’s favour on 17 December:

A clear corporate catalyst: NCLT approval for the demerger plan has removed a major regulatory “overhang” that markets had been waiting on. ^[3]
A risk-on mood for metals: Market coverage also pointed to firmer base metal prices and a softer U.S. dollar helping sentiment across metal counters, adding fuel to Vedanta’s momentum. ^[4]

By mid-morning, multiple reports noted Vedanta opening strong and trading near record levels, with short-term technical commentary turning bullish as well. ^[5]

NCLT approval: what exactly got cleared?

The headline

Vedanta informed exchanges that the NCLT (Mumbai Bench) has sanctioned the Scheme of Arrangement for the demerger, dated 16 December 2025—a key procedural gateway to executing the breakup into separate listed businesses. ^[6]

The structure (five listed companies)

Vedanta’s own communication and coverage of the order describe a post-demerger structure that results in five listed entities—the existing listed Vedanta plus four newly carved-out, sector-focused companies. The five are commonly described as:

Vedanta Aluminium
Vedanta Oil & Gas
Vedanta Iron & Steel
Vedanta Power
Vedanta Limited (residual entity), which will continue to house Hindustan Zinc and incubate new businesses ^[7]

Important nuance: Vedanta’s press release also flags that approval for the demerger of the merchant power business is pending before the NCLT under a separate proceeding—so “Power” is part of the broader picture, but not every piece may be on the same procedural timeline. ^[8]

The legal entities involved in the scheme

On the legal/filing side, the sanctioned scheme references four resulting companies tied to key verticals—Vedanta Aluminium Metal Ltd, Talwandi Sabo Power Ltd, Malco Energy Ltd, and Vedanta Iron and Steel Ltd—along with Vedanta Ltd, their shareholders, and creditors. ^[9]

What do Vedanta shareholders get in the demerger?

This is the part retail investors care about most, because it determines “what you own” on the other side.

Multiple reports and the company’s disclosures indicate that existing Vedanta shareholders will receive shares in each of the newly formed listed entities in addition to their current Vedanta shareholding. ^[10]

Several business reports describe the demerger as a simple vertical split—for every one share of Vedanta held, shareholders are expected to receive one share in each of the four newly demerged companies (with Vedanta continuing as the residual listed parent). ^[11]

Practical reminder: as with most demergers, the trading price of the original share typically adjusts on the ex-demerger date because value gets split across multiple listed stocks. The investor’s total value is then represented by the combined market value of all the post-demerger holdings.

Why investors think Vedanta’s demerger can “unlock value”

Conglomerates often trade at a “conglomerate discount”—the market applies a lower valuation multiple because different businesses (with different cycles, risks, and capital needs) are bundled together.

A demerger can potentially reduce that discount by creating:

Cleaner business stories (aluminium vs. oil & gas vs. power vs. ferrous)
Clearer balance sheets and capital structures
Targeted fundraising (a high-growth vertical can raise capital without being weighed down by unrelated segments)
Better price discovery (each company gets valued on peers and its own outlook)

This is a core reason many brokerages have framed the NCLT nod as a value-unlocking event, especially for high-growth verticals like aluminium and power. ^[12]

The big caveat: the demerger faced government objections (and not all risk is gone)

One reason the NCLT order mattered so much is that the demerger process faced pointed objections from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, including allegations around disclosure of hydrocarbon assets and liabilities. ^[13]

Mint’s reporting on the NCLT order also highlights that:

The tribunal held the scheme to be “fair and reasonable” and compliant, while rejecting claims of material non-disclosures/statutory violations in the context of the case. ^[14]
The approval comes with conditions to be fulfilled within a defined window (for example, steps related to charges over fixed assets and Registrar of Companies updates). ^[15]
The order clarifies it does not bar ongoing or future litigation/arbitration/tax or regulatory action, and that assets/liabilities/employees transfer on a going-concern basis subject to applicable laws. ^[16]

There are also specific concerns that surfaced in proceedings around Malco Energy (one of the entities in the scheme), including claims highlighted about liquidity and net worth, and references to government dues disputes tied to oil & gas blocks. ^[17]

Bottom line: NCLT approval is a major green light, but execution risk and regulatory/litigation complexity don’t vanish overnight.

Vedanta share price action on 17 December 2025

Reports published today described Vedanta:

Hitting a fresh record high near ₹580–₹580.45
Extending gains for a seventh session
Posting a double-digit cumulative rise over the last week (around 13%+ in several reports) ^[18]

Short-term market commentary also turned more technical: one TV market expert cited in coverage flagged momentum strength and suggested the stock could test higher levels in the near term, with a defined stop-loss framework. ^[19]

Broker forecasts and analyst targets for Vedanta stock

The rally puts a spotlight on a tricky question: how much upside is left after a record high? Brokerages are positive on the demerger narrative, but consensus targets are now much closer to market price.

1) ICICI Direct: BUY, target ₹650 (6–12 months)

An ICICI Direct note dated mid-December reiterates a BUY view with a target of ₹650, pointing to stronger non-ferrous price tailwinds (notably aluminium and zinc), operating leverage, capacity additions, and expectations of a healthy dividend profile. ^[20]

The same note highlights:

Improving leverage metrics (net debt/EBITDA cited around 1.37x as of Sep’25, with a stated aim of ~1x by FY27 in the note)
A forward dividend yield expectation around ~6% (as framed in the report) ^[21]

2) Nuvama Institutional Equities: BUY, fair value ₹686; demerger could add ~₹84/share

A Nuvama note (Nov 2025) keeps a BUY stance and estimates a fair value of ₹686, with an additional value uplift expectation of around ₹84 per share once the demerger is effective—arguing that separate listings could lead to better valuation multiples for aluminium, steel/iron ore, and power. ^[22]

Nuvama also frames the demerger as a vertical split and discusses a path of improving leverage and earnings growth (its projections are built on commodity price and volume assumptions). ^[23]

3) Consensus targets: much tighter after the rally

Two widely tracked consensus pages show that, after the run-up toward ₹580, the average 12‑month target is now close to (or slightly below) prevailing prices:

Trendlyne shows an average target around ₹562.60, implying a small downside versus the last referenced price on the page. ^[24]
Investing.com shows an average analyst target around ₹564.31, with a range of ₹480 to ₹686 and a “Buy”-leaning analyst mix (as displayed on the page). ^[25]

This divergence matters for investors: select broker notes are meaningfully bullish, but the broader consensus suggests the stock is already pricing in a meaningful portion of the near-term optimism.

Fundamentals and operating outlook: what the forecasts are really betting on

Demerger excitement alone doesn’t sustain a valuation. The bullish case in recent notes typically rests on three operational pillars:

1) Commodity prices and spreads

Vedanta’s earnings are highly sensitive to commodity cycles (aluminium, zinc, oil, silver). Broker research notes explicitly cite the strength in key non-ferrous metals and expectations of continued support. ^[26]

2) Capacity additions and execution

Recent/ongoing projects and commissioning timelines are central to FY26–FY28 earnings forecasts in brokerage reports. ^[27]

3) Leverage and cash returns

Vedanta’s capital allocation—especially the balance between deleveraging and dividends—remains the market’s obsession.

ICICI Direct’s note calls out improving leverage and a forward dividend yield expectation (as per the report framing). ^[28]
Nuvama’s note discusses debt trajectory and dividend-per-share expectations in its forecast model. ^[29]

Separately, Business Standard also cited India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) expectations for improving leverage and EBITDA over FY26–FY27 as added capacities and efficiencies flow through—an angle credit markets tend to watch closely. ^[30]

What happens next: key dates and catalysts to track

NCLT approval is a starting pistol, not the finish line. Here’s what typically matters most from here—and what current reporting suggests investors should monitor:

Further regulatory and stakeholder approvals as implementation proceeds ^[31]
Company filings on the demerger timeline, including when the scheme becomes effective ^[32]
Record date / entitlement details / listing process for the new entities (watch exchange announcements closely) ^[33]
How debt, liabilities, and cash flows are allocated across the resulting companies—often the biggest driver of post-demerger valuation spreads ^[34]
Any developments tied to government claims / disputes referenced during proceedings, and how they are handled post-restructuring ^[35]
Updated brokerage models as more details emerge, because target prices can shift once the market can value the parts with more precision ^[36]

On timeline, Reuters reported expectations of completion by 31 March 2026, aligning with the market narrative that FY26 is the execution window investors are trading. ^[37]

Bottom line for Vedanta investors on 17 December 2025

Vedanta stock’s move to a record high on 17 December is fundamentally a demerger trade: investors are betting that five focused listed companies can be worth more than one diversified conglomerate, and that clearer business lines will improve valuation, capital access, and (possibly) balance-sheet outcomes. ^[38]

Brokerage forecasts remain constructive—some as high as ₹650–₹686—and at least one major research house explicitly models incremental value creation from the demerger. ^[39] But consensus trackers now show average targets clustering near the current price, reflecting that a lot of optimism may already be in the stock after the recent surge. ^[40]

The next phase is less about headlines and more about plumbing: approvals, conditions, timelines, and the fine print of how assets and liabilities settle into each new company—because that’s where “unlocking value” either becomes real… or just a nice PowerPoint story.

References

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