New Delhi, June 15 -- Vedanta's long-awaited demerger finally culminated today. Nearly three years after the company's demerger announcement, four new entities-aluminium, oil & gas, power, and iron & steel-made their stock market debut.

Vedanta Aluminium Metal (VAML), often touted as the conglomerate's crown jewel, could easily emerge as the market favourite, with brokerages ascribing about half of the conglomerate's sum-of-the-parts enterprise value to the aluminium business.

The enthusiasm is understandable. VAML has more than 2.8 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of aluminium capacity and is the third-largest producer globally outside China. The company plans to expand capacity further, supported by rising demand from electric vehicles...