Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)
Mangaluru, May 25: There are indications that city-based Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (HPCL) which is owned and operated by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, may be merged with pubic sector Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL).
The merger of the behemoths if it happens, may open up a new trend for such mergers in future. As such, expectations are running high and the industrial sector is awaiting further developments on the merger move with bated breath.
The rumour mills went agog on the basis of a statement made in New Delhi by HPCL chairman and managing director, M K Surana, in which he said that his company has evinced interest in acquiring MRPL, which is owned by ONGC. Currently HPCL has oil processing units at Mumbai and Visakhapatnam whereas in some areas it buys products from MRPL and supplies the same to consumers. If the merger happens, HPCL management thinks, it can bring down operational costs considerably by streamlining its operations, reports say.