Unfinished business: ONGC facing question marks over future structure, role

This is an unnecessary overhang, since the company has not been on an investment spree

This article has been updated with comments from an ONGC representative. Updates added in bold.

Five years after the Rs 110-trillion ONGC acquired a majority stake in oil marketing company HPCL (January 2018), the acquisition process is still on. To all intents and purposes, the two companies remain separate entities, although HPCL is nominally an ONGC subsidiary. The incomplete process continues to hobble India’s premier oil exploration company. As of September 2022, ONGC’s net debt is at about Rs 1.06 trillion. Of this, ONGC had to borrow Rs 35,000 crore from seven banks.
 

This is an unnecessary overhang, since