Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd, a unit of London-listed Vedanta Resources, on Tuesday said it would consider raising funds through the qualified institutional placements (QIPs) route. The issue would be discussed at an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders to be held on July 11. The company, in its statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), said it will also consider raising funds through American depositary receipts (ADR) or global depositary receipts (GDR) or foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCB) at the meeting.

Sterlite Industries shares on Tuesday slipped 2.82% to close at Rs 577.20 on the BSE.

The company, in its explanatory statement, said it plans to raise long-term resources to meet fund requirements for its announced acquisitions, tie-up funding requirements for proposed capital expenditure on the power projects being set up and to meet other capital expenditure requirements of the group, including subsidiary/associate companies of Sterlite for general corporate purpose.

Sterlite is currently in a long-drawn battle to acquire bankrupt copper producer Asarco for $1.7 billion. Last year, Sterlite had walked out of the Asarco deal at $2.6 billion, which it had won through competitive bidding as valuations of Asarco had fallen owing to a crash in copper prices during the global meltdown.

The company, however, has given another offer of $1.7 billion with the surge in the rates in the last few months.

Sterlite Industries had reported a dip of about 52.79% in its net profit at Rs 912 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2009, against Rs 1,932 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. Net sales during the quarter stood at Rs 4,336 crore, down 35.9% against Rs 6,766 crore in Q4 FT08.

?Consolidated cash, cash equivalents and liquid investments as on March 31 was Rs 19,287 crore. This includes Rs 13,782 crore in debt mutual funds and Rs 5,505 crore in fixed deposits with banks,? Sterlite said in a statement, while announcing its Q4 FT09 results.

It further informed that work on the 2,400mw(4×600 MW) coal-based Independent thermal power plant in Jharsuguda is on track for progressive commissioning from late 2009.

Meanwhile, parent company Vedanta Resources had on June 12, raised $1.25 billion by convertible bonds issue, to finance takeovers, expansion and to boost ownership of subsidiaries.

?The company intends to use the net proceeds of the offering to support its organic growth pipeline, to raise its ownership interest in subsidiaries and for general corporate purposes. It will also provide the group additional flexibility to finance acquisitions,? Vedanta had said.

Vedanta is still seeking stake in government-controlled Balco and Hindustan Zinc. The Centre owns 49% in Balco and 27% in Hindustan Zinc.