Vedanta shares decline nearly 2 pc

New Delhi: Shares of Vedanta on Tuesday fell by nearly 2 per cent after Taiwan's Foxconn withdrew from a USD 19.5 billion semiconductor joint venture with mining baron Anil Agarwal's firm. The stock went lower by 1.67 per cent to settle at Rs 277.55 apiece on the BSE. During the day, it declined 2.60 per cent to Rs 274.90. On the NSE, it fell by 1.59 per cent to end at Rs 277.75 per share.

In volume terms, 6.66 lakh shares of the company were traded on the BSE and over 1.36 crore shares on the NSE during the day. Foxconn has withdrawn from a USD 19.5 billion semiconductor joint venture with Vedanta Ltd as the venture struggled to get a technology partner to make chips that are used in mobile phones to refrigerators and cars.

In a statement, Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics maker, said it has determined it will not move forward on the joint venture with Vedanta. Agarwal's metals-to-oil conglomerate responded saying it was "fully committed to its semiconductor fab project and we have lined up other partners to set up India's first foundry".

Foxconn, best known for assembling iPhones and other Apple products, and Vedanta last year signed a pact to set up semiconductor and display production plants in Gujarat. European chipmaker STMicroelectronics was being roped in as a technology partner for the venture but talks were deadlocked.