Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) would be keen to participate in the bidding process to acquire Bengal government's stake in cash strapped Haldia Petrochemicals, Indrajit Bose, executive director of IOC, said here today.
"We would be keen to participate in the bidding for controlling stake in HPL. We won't do aggressive biding as the company's financial health is not too well, but we will participate,” he said.
Indian Oil already has an 8.89% stake in HPL by virtue of a Rs 150-crore investment made in 2004.
Bose said that the oil major has not received any formal invitation firm the state government.
Bengal government which holds close to 40% stake in HPL has started its share sale drill and has appointed Delloite India to execute the divestment plan and a valuation process is going on.
"We have many synergies with HPL. We have a big refinery in that area , our pipelines are connected with HPL. Now, what we have to wait and see is what the state government comes up with for it's share sale plan. Accordingly we will take bid,” he added.
The state is expected to complete its due diligence process for auctioning o the shares by March this year. Amidst all these developments, HPL's financial health has been deteriorating as the lenders have dragged their feet to release any fresh fund. Adding to the woes, the government is forcibly, according to sources, running the plant at 50% capacity of total installed capacity which is resulting in huge losses.
