State-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC) has emerged as the sole bidder for the West Bengal government's stake in Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL), with an offer of less than Rs 3,000 crores. Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), which had been considered the strongest contender, had not put in a bid by the designated deadline. RIL had objected to the state government's decision to receive bids in sealed envelopes instead of an open auction. State-owned gas utility GAIL India Ltd, which planned to bid with state explorer Oil India Ltd (OIL), dropped out over certain clauses in the shareholders agreement, as the West Bengal government was not agreeable to companies bidding in a consortium. Anil Agarwal-owned Vedanta Resources, through its subsidiary Cairn India, and Naveen Jindal's Jindal Steel and Power Ltd had also expressed interest but decided not to bid. State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) had pulled out previously because of concerns over litigations involving HPL, sources said.
Purnendu Chatterjee-led The Chatterjee Group (TCG), a joint promoter of HPL, will have the right of first refusal over the West Bengal government's stake. TCG will have 30 days to match the highest bid and another month to make payments. TCG holds 69 crore shares, or 40.88% in HPL. IOC has an 8.89% stake as a strategic investor and the rest is with financial institutions and Tata Group companies Tata Motors and Tata Power.
08-Oct-13 
