Top-down change in Vedanta northeast team
At least three Vedanta northeast team members are being replaced just a few months after boss Anil Agarwal committed to invest Rs50,000cr ($6bn) in Assam and Tripura.
Still unclear is why. Among them is Arunabh Parashar, a reservoir engineer and head of operations of the company's New Ventures (northeast India), who might yet return as negotiations progress.
Others include deputy general managers Priyabrat Chatterjee and Anurag Sharma; Dilip Behera, another DGM, has left. Vedanta has an office based in Jorhat, and most of its operations are in upper Assam.
With a huge workforce, two of its office floors are for employees and one for management. In Assam oil and gas circles, rumours are circulating that Vedanta is cutting costs, though this could not be independently corroborated.
"The decision (to make changes in the team) was taken on April 30 (2025)," says a source. "Parashar wants to move on."
He adds that Parashar has been Vedanta's point of contact in Assam for technical issues and liaison with the state government. "It will be difficult to replace him," adds our source.
"But him leaving also raises questions about why this happened in the first place." Another source speculates that replacements might come from outside Assam.
Vedanta holds 7650-sq km of acreage with 12 OALP blocks and 3 DSF blocks in Assam. Located between Jorhat and AmguriIt, it is also testing well "Rudra" with high hopes of discovery.
However, progress is slow, and many OALP blocks have short validity periods left, opening the possibility of huge penalties to be paid to the DGH. Another challenge is that as many as a dozen wells, disappointingly, have turned out dry.
In February 2025, news reports quoted Vedanta boss Agarwal saying the company plans to invest Rs50,000cr in Assam and Tripura over three to four years. He made the remarks on February 25 (2025) while speaking at the Advantage Assam investment summit, attended by Narendra Modi.
A Vedanta spokesperson did not respond to calls or emails, and a message sent to Parashar remains unanswered.