Supreme Court refuses to stay Haldia Petrochemical stake sale, allows state government to call price bids

19-Aug-13

The Supreme Court (SC) has not granted a stay on the stake sale process in eastern India's biggest petrochemical company - Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL) - and set the stage for the West Bengal government to call price bids by August 31, as per Business Standard. The apex court said it would hear the HPL case in September and decide on the issue of merit, but did not order any interim stay. TCG (The Chatterjee Group), a key promoter of HPL, had filed a special leave petition (SLP) in the SC against the Calcutta high court order barring it from going to the International Court of Arbitration in France. The SLP was TCG Chairman Purnendu Chatterjee's effort to stall the stake sale process as TCG has repetitively said it wants management control in the company. Six major companies from the sector had submitted expressions of interest for buying the state government's stake in HPL. The due diligence process got over last week. Five companies - Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), Cairn India, Indian Oil Corporation, Gas Authority of India Ltd and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation - are in the fray. The bids are expected to come by August 31, according to an HPL official. A TCG official, however, said it was a not setback for the company as the final verdict would come sometime in the month of September. "As of now, things stay exactly how they were a month back. The SC will hear the case again in September and let's see what decision it arrives at," said the TCG official.