West Bengal Govt to select final bidder for HPL sale by end of September

22-Aug-13

The West Bengal government will select the final bidder for stake sale in Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL) by September 30. HPL chairman and Industries minister Partha Chatterjee said the government would be able to finalise the bidder to hive off close to 40% stake in the country's largest petrochemical company. Purnendu Chatterjee led The Chatterjee Group (TCG), another key promoter in HPL, has the right of first refusal over the shares put on block with the state to offer it a month's time to match the price of the highest bidder. The final price bids were expected to be submitted by August 31. After Essar Oil's exit from the race to acquire the state's stake in HPL, five companies - Reliance Industries Ltd, Cairn India, IOC, ONGC and GAIL continue to remain in the race.