(PTI)
The board of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) on Monday gave ‘in-principle’ approval to acquire the government’s 51.11 per cent stake in Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, the former said in a regulatory filing. The board of directors, at its meeting on Monday, constituted a committee of directors to “examine various aspects” of the acquisition and “to provide its recommendations to the board of directors”, it said.
The government last month had approved sale of its 51.11 per cent stake in oil refiner HPCL to India’s largest oil producer ONGC. Prior to the merger, HPCL is likely to take over Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) to bring all the refining assets of ONGC under one unit. ONGC currently owns 71.63 percent of MRPL while HPCL has 16.96 percent stake in it. Sources said ONGC will not have to make an open offer to minority shareholders of HPCL as the government’s holding is being transferred to another state-run firm and the ownership isn’t changing.
