A day after Vedanta called off a planned corporate restructuring exercise, chairman Anil Agarwal said the company was ready to acquire an additional 5 per cent stake in Hindustan Zinc Ltd (HZL) if the Centre was prepared to sell it.

In an interview with a news channel, Agarwal added that Vedanta was also open to the idea of acquiring a higher stake in HZL if the Centre permitted it. During the quarter ended December 31 last year, Vedanta held close to 65 per cent in HZL while the government’s holding stood at almost 30 per cent.

The purchase of the government’s residual stake will however depend on the valuation and regulatory approvals, he added.

Shares of HZL closed on the BSE with a gain of 1.34 per cent at Rs 331.75. It currently has a market cap of Rs 1,40,174.96 crore. Shares of Vedanta also finished in the green — rising 1.79 per cent to Rs 376.20.

In 2001, Agarwal had acquired Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd (Balco) and bought into HZL in 2002-03.

On Tuesday, Vedanta had said it dropped plans for a corporate restructuring on the basis of inputs from various experts and advisers.