Will wait till March-end to take a call on HPL: IOC

Indian Oil Corporation(IOC), which had made a bid to buy out West Bengal government's stake in ailing Haldia Petrochemicals Limited (HPL), would wait till March 31 before taking a call on the matter.

"We will wait till the end of the financial year and then a definite call will be taken on the matter," a senior IOC official told PTI.

There has been no official communication so far from the West Bengal government after the bid was submitted in October last year, he said.

IOC had quoted a price of Rs 25.10 per share for HPL's stake and was the sole bidder.

"If nothing progresses on the issue regarding transfer of shares to IOC, then the issue would be taken up by the executive committee in which all the functional directors and the chairman are members," the official added.

IOC has learnt that the West Bengal government was in talks with TCG, the other promoter, to find a way out, he said, adding, "We will react once the outcome of the talks are made public."

TCG, which was supposed to exercise its right of first refusal on the IOC offer, moved the Supreme Court over the controversial 155 million shares which were clubbed together with the state government's stakeholding in HPL.

The apex court subsequently allowed TCG to move the arbitration cell of Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce to resolve the ownership issue of the 155 million shares.