(ET)
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) finally recognised its majority owner ONGC as its promoter in public filings, following a harsh directive from the market regulator last week. The state-owned company had ignored directives from the government as well as the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), forcing the latter to set a deadline of August 13 and warn of “appropriate action” if it failed. This forced the HPCL management to act quickly.
Sebi had also ordered HPCL’s company secretary to place the letter containing its directives before the board of directors and disseminate the letter to stock exchanges. For more than a year, HPCL had said it needed more regulatory clarity for recognising ONGC as promoter, without ever giving details on what was really unclear to the management.
