BENGALURU (Reuters) - Indian metals-to-oil conglomerate Vedanta on Thursday said its board approved a fundraise of up to 85 billion rupees ($1.02 billion).

The company also declared its first interim dividend amounting to 40.89 billion rupees.

The billionaire Anil Agarwal-led company said that its committee of directors will decide on the structure of the fundraise, where the proposal includes the issue of equities and other financial instruments.

The company did not mention what the proceeds will be used for.

This is the second time that the company is raising funds in the current fiscal year. Last month, it said it would raise up to $300 million through debt securities.

Vedanta is the midst of splitting into six different units, a move that analysts have said would unlikely alleviate the cash-strapped group's debt concerns.

The company's net debt rose about 25% from a year ago to 563.38 billion rupees as of March 31, while its full-year cash and cash equivalents fell to 28.12 billion rupees from 69.26 billion rupees a year earlier.

($1 = 83.4833 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee and Manvi Pant in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema)