ONGC interested in Haldia Petrochemicals

WB govt has expressed intention to offload its 43% stake in the joint sector company

State-owned ONGC is interested in acquiring West Bengal government's stake in ailing Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL), a top company official said.

"We have expressed the desire to take controlling stake in Haldia Petrochemical through our subsidiary Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL)," he said.

The company has sought an audience with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to make a presentation on its HPL plans.

"MRPL is setting up a petrochemical plant and HPL has great synergy with its plans," he said.

The company plans to supply naphtha -- feedstock for petrochemicals -- to HPL, he said.

West Bengal government has expressed intention to offload its 43 per cent stake in the joint sector company.

"MRPL is being expanded to 21 million tons from 15 million tonnes... This will produce naphtha which can be used as feedstock in the petrochemical plant," the official said.

HPL, whose losses over the past years have eroded nearly half of its networth,  currently imports bulk of its naphtha requirements.

The state government and The Chatterjee Group, which is equal promoter in HPL, are locked in dispute over control of the petrochemical giant. State-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC) owns nine per cent stake in HPL.