NEW DELHI: However, a senior official of ONGC have mentioned in a published media report that the ONGC surplus has come down to less than Rs 10,000 crore, not enough for such a buy-out. Besides, it will not want to spend its entire surplus and more on the acquisition.
So, even if this acquisition is on cards, aranging funds for this major buyout could be the immediate challenge.
According to experts, ONGC, would operationally benefit from such an integration. HPC is the third largest fuel retailer in the country and its ownership would give ONGC access to 13,000 retail outlets and 14.8 million tonnes of annual refining capacity, plus stake in a joint venture refinery with ArcelorMittal.