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State run oil and gas explorer ONGC’s plan to merge its refining subsidiary Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) with Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) has got delayed. The process is now expected to be complete by FY24. The merger was in the works with the aim of aligning ONGC’s upstream and downstream operations into two verticals. But ONGC has decided to consolidate its refining and petrochemicals business around MRPL first before pushing for the merger.
According to a report in IANS, the process of merging the two oil refining subsidiaries would start only after the company completes merging ONGC Mangalore Petrochemical Ltd (OMPL) with MRPL.
Company officials privy to the development said that the merger of HPCL and MRPL under conservative assumptions could happen by FY24-end as the MRPL-OMPL merger has to happen first and that the business should continue for five years with FY19-end as the effective date of their merger at the least.
The merger could start in one-two years as OMPL is likely to get merged with MRPL by then. OMPL has now become a 100 per cent subsidiary of MRPL. The MRPL board approved the acquisition of 49 per cent stake in OMPL on October 19 last year.
OMPL is the largest single stream unit in Asia producing 914 KTPA Para-xylene and 283 KTPA Benzene. MRPL is a schedule ‘A’ Miniratna Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE), under the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas.
ONGC held 71.63 per cent and HPCL held 16.96 per cent stake in MRPL as on December 31.
BT