Mittal may buy stake in HPCL’s Bhatinda refinery
NRI steel tycoon Mr Lakshmi N Mittal may partner Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) in the state-run firm’s under-construction $3 billion refinery at Bhatinda in Punjab.
"Mittal Investments and HPCL are close to signing a joint venture agreement for jointly building the 9 million tonnes a year Bhatinda refinery," an industry source said.
As per the broad understanding reached between the two firms during preliminary talks, HPCL and Mittal Investments may hold 49 per cent stake each in the Guru Gobind Singh Refinery Ltd, the company implementing the project. The remaining two per cent sta ke would be offered to financial institutions.
In the likelihood of state-run exploration firm Oil India Ltd (OIL) joining in the shareholding it might be 26:26:26. The balance would bee offered in an initial public offering (IPO) closer to commissioning of the refinery in 2010-11.
Mittal Investments is wholly owned by the Mittal family and is registered in Luxembourg. It holds 38 per cent in Mittal Steel Company, the Netherlands-based flagship company of the LN Mittal Group.
Officials of both Mittal Investments and HPCL could not be immediately reached for comments.
The source said the Mittals might extend the partnership with HPCL to also include participation in the expansion of 7.5 million tonnes a year Vizag refinery and joint pursuit of oil assets abroad. – PTI
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