Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan in New Delhi yesterday met media persons and briefed them about the acquisition of HPCL by ONGC.
Pradhan informed that the Government of India entered into an agreement with ONGC on January 20, 2018 for sale of its 51.11% equity shareholding in HPCL at a consideration of Rs. 36,915 crore. Pradhan said this is in line with the Budget announcement 2017-18 to create oil majors in the country. This has completed the successful implementation of the Budget announcement in a time bound manner.
He also said ONGC-HPCL integration is the first innovative vertical integration that will help leveraging the strength of both the companies. Through this acquisition, ONGC will become India’s first vertically integrated ‘oil major’ company, having presence across the entire value chain. The group company will have advantage of having enhanced capacity to bear higher risk, take higher investment decisions and improve business.
Pradhan said ONGC-HPCL integration offers huge potential to attain economies of scale at various levels of operations and consolidation in petrochemical and refining business. The group company will leverage the financial strength and diversify business portfolio in upstream, midstream and downstream sectors. Shri Pradhan said that HPCL will continue to be a Board-managed Central Sector Public Enterprise and will maintain its distinct identity and brand value.
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