Cabinet approves sale of government stake in HPCL to ONGC
HPCL will become a subsidiary of ONGC and will remain a listed company post the acquisition.
New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday gave its nod for the sale of the government's 51.11 per cent stake in state-refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) to explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) for Rs 30,000 crore.
HPCL will however not be merged with ONGC. It will remain a separate entity and operate as ONGC's subsidiary.
A top government source said, HPCL will become a subsidiary of ONGC and will remain a listed company post the acquisition, adding that the board of the refining and marketing company will continue to remain in place.
Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan earlier on Wednesday said, "ONGC has forwarded a proposal to acquire HPCL. Process for in-principle approval for this proposal has been initiated."
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in this year's Budget had proposed to create an integrated public sector "oil major" that can rival global giants.