Av Birla Group To Incur Rs 400 Crore Loss On Mrpl

The Aditya Birla group, which is all set to exit its oil refining joint venture Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemcials (MRPL) through the sale of its 37.5 per cent stake to the Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), will have to take a combined hit in excess of Rs 400 crore on its books.

The book value of the investments in MRPL is around Rs 471.7 crore, while the price of Rs 2.10 a share that ONGC is willing to pay would mean the group will get only Rs 62.41 crore, leading to a hit of Rs 409.28 crore.

Even at the Rs 2.30 a share the Birlas had asked for, the hit would be Rs 403.34 crore. ONGC is to take a formal decision on investing in MRPL Wednesday.

Group flagship Grasim Industries, by virtue of its 19 per cent stake, would take the maximum hit of around Rs 207.1 crore, while Hindalco, which holds a 12.1 per cent stake will have to take a hit of Rs 131.9 crore.

Indian Rayon, which has 5.2 per cent in MRPL, will see the value of its holdings diminish by Rs 56.5 crore, and Indo Gulf, which has another 1.3 per cent, will also take a hit of Rs 13.9 crore.

But with Indo Gulf