(Bloomberg) -- Vedanta Resources Plc (VED), the largest copper producer in India, said fiscal second-quarter output at its Tuticorin smelter advanced 28 percent while aluminum production fell.

Tuticorin's copper-cathode output jumped to 87,000 metric tons in the quarter ended Sept. 30 from 68,000 tons a year earlier, London-based Vedanta said today in a statement. Mined zinc metal production rose 2 percent to 210,000 tons, while aluminum output dropped 8 percent to 149,000 tons.

Vedanta, seeking to expand into the oil and gas industry, is in the final stages of purchasing a majority stake in Cairn India Ltd., which will give it access to India's biggest onshore oil deposit. Cairn India shareholders and Oil & Natural Gas Corp., its oilfield partner, have approved Vedanta's acquisition, the company said.

"With deal closure, envisaged by the end of the month, Vedanta will reach a key landmark in delivering transformational earnings to drive rapid deleveraging," Liberum Capital Ltd. said today in a note.

Vedanta advanced 47 pence, or 4.2 percent, to 1,160 pence at the 4:30 p.m. close in London, the highest in a week.

Iron-ore production declined 61 percent to 1.12 million tons in the quarter after India's Karnataka state imposed an export ban to curb price increases for local steel producers. Vedanta's sales of the steelmaking material shrank to 1.55 million tons from 1.82 million tons, it said.

Production of copper cathode in Zambia declined 10 percent to 52,000 tons, the company said.