MUMBAI – Vedanta’s plan to create an Indian resources heavyweight to compete with the likes of BHP Billiton got a boost Monday after shareholders in its oil unit, Cairn India, agreed to a proposal to combine the two companies.

Cairn India’s shareholders “will benefit from exposure to Vedanta’s diversified portfolio of assets while retaining the upside from Cairn’s strong oil & gas assets,” Cairn’s acting CEO, Sudhir Mathur, said in a statement, following the shareholders’ vote. The transaction is expected to be effective by the end of the financial year in March.

Billionaire owner Anil Agarwal set out his idea to combine Vedanta, India’s biggest base metals producer, based in Panaji, Goa, with its largest onshore oil producer in June 2015, but the plan faltered after the approval of key Cairn shareholders couldn’t be secured. Vedanta, which holds 58% of its oil unit, sweetened the deal in July 2016. Cairn UK Holdings and Life Insurance of India are among the largest minority shareholders of the Gurgaon-based Cairn.

DEBT PILE
The deal will allow India’s most-indebted metals company after Tata Steel to access Cairn’s cash pile, which stood at 234-billion rupees ($3.1-billion) at the end of June. Vedanta’s debt at the time was 780-billion rupees. Vedanta’s shareholders and creditors had already approved the transaction on Friday.

London-listed Vedanta Plc’s ownership of Vedanta Ltd is expected to fall to 50.1% once Cairn is absorbed, from 62.9% now. Cairn’s minority shareholders will own 20.2% of the merged entity and and Vedanta minority shareholders 29.7%.

Vedanta’s CEO Tom Albanese said last year that the creation of an Indian resources conglomerate was intended to mirror Australia’s BHP – which holds mining and energy assets – or Brazil’s Vale SA. Albanese is a former CEO of another mining giant, Rio Tinto.

Cairn closed 5.1% lower in Mumbai on Monday, leaving it with a market value of 354-billion rupees. Vedanta lost 5.8% and is worth 478-billion rupees.