Govt panel deciding valuation for ONGC's HPCL acquisition: M K Surana

The government has formed an advisory panel that would decide the valuation for Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) buying the 51 per cent stake in Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL), said its Chairman and Managing Director M K Surana.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is heading the three-member ministerial panel to oversee and expedite the sale of the government stake.

HPCL recently reviewed setting up an LPG storage facility at its Mangalore terminal with France's Total SA. The development comes even as the state-owned oil marketer is gearing up for its merger with upstream firm ONGC.

"Total was here two weeks ago and we just met to review if we could have an underground storage facility for LPG at the Mangalore terminal," Surana said on the sidelines of the annual general meeting held here on Friday. "Nothing has been decided, we just met to discuss," he added without divulging further details.

On HPCL taking over Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) after its acquisition by ONGC, Surana said a discussion on the issue has not taken place yet but "it is a reasonable possibility that MRPL will go along with HPCL".

Currently, ONGC owns 71.63 per cent of MRPL, which it had acquired from the AV Birla Group in March 2013.

"The merger will bring together a downstream and an upstream business, which will only help insulate the business from the vagaries of crude oil prices," explained Surana.

HPCL has also drawn up investment plans of Rs 7,110 crore for business growth in the current financial year.

The company, which is being merged with exploration giant ONGC, has also planned a capital expenditure (capex) of Rs 61,000 crore over the next five years.

"We are adapting to this changing energy mix and are well positioned to create value for all the stakeholders in the future with a capex of over Rs 61,000 crore over the next five years," Surana added.

After the merger, HPCL will remain a public sector unit with a separate board and brand identity.

HPCL also plans to set up a 9 million-tonne unit in Rajasthan, as well as expand its Visakhapatnam refinery. This will take the company to the 50 million tonne-plus category.

Surana said the company has signed a revised memorandum of understanding and a joint-venture agreement with Rajasthan for setting up 9 million-tonne refinery-cum-petrochemical complex at Barner at a cost of Rs 43,129 crore. HPCL will hold 74 per cent stake, while the Rajasthan government will hold the balance.

HPCL owns and operates two major refineries producing a wide variety of petroleum fuels and specialities — a 7.5 million-tonne facility in Mumbai (West Coast) and another in Visakhapatnam (East Coast) with a capacity of 8.3 million tonne.