Cabinet gives an in-principle approval to ONGC for acquiring stake in HPCL

20-Jul-17

India's Union government has given in-principle approval to its Rs 28,000 crore stake sale in Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) to the country’s biggest explorer ONGC. Prior to the merger, HPCL is likely to take over Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL) to bring all the refining assets of ONGC under one unit. ONGC currently owns 71.63% of MRPL while HPCL has 16.96% stake in it.

Source 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. The deal will be completed within a year, he said. HPCL will become a subsidiary of ONGC and will remain a listed company post the acquisition.