West Bengal CM has met with the PM to facilitate Indian Oil Corporation's (IOC) induction as Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd.'s (HPL) new partner, seeking a firm commitment that IOC will come forward with necessary funds, when required, to purchase shares and take management control of HPL. The state government seems so keen to bring IOC into HPL, that it is even willing to exit in favour of IOC.
After acquiring 11% from the Tatas, state-owned West Bengal Industrial Development Corp (WBIDC) is the largest investor in HPL with 54% stake holding. The state has expressed concerns by the recent attempts of The Chatterjee Group (TCG) to make HPL borrow further for the US$8.4 billion acquisition of Basell NV. With TCG at the helm, the state has expressed that it may also be very difficult, in a downcycle, for HPL to withstand competition from IOC setting up a new plant at Paradeep and Panipat. and Reliance's planned expansion.
14-Nov-05 
{{comment.DateTimeStampDisplay}}
{{comment.Comments}}