CPCL is not a sick company: IOC chief

Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd, a group company of Indian Oil Corporation, is not sick and does not need to be referred to the Board of Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR), Indian Oil Corporation Chairman B Ashok said today.
"Chennai Petroleum Corporation is not a sick company. The present networth of the company is Rs 2,322 crore, which is more than 50 per cent of its (total) networth (as of March 2014)," he told shareholders at the company's 48th Annual General Meeting here.
"As a company, it will not be referred to BIFR. But, we will give them a report based on the results of last (financial) year. At that point of time, it (the networth of the company) was Rs 1,700 crore. We are also equally concerned (like you). All efforts are being made...," he said.

Responding to a query on how CPCL would fund projects like the Rs 3,110 crore for residue upgradation project and a crude pipeline project in Tamil Nadu at a cost of Rs 257 crore, Ashok said, "the company was working out ways and means towards capital infusion".
"These projects are necessary as it will help to improve the bottomline of the company. Moreover, we have to lay the pipeline as it has been laid several years back. For that, we have to undertake such projects (42" new crude oil pipeline)," he said.
Asked about merger with Indian Oil Corporation, he said, the company was looking at "some issues" before finalising it.

"Well there are other stake holders. We have to take their views in to mind before we finalise on the merger. At the moment, there are issues. So we need to tackle them. We hope we will be able to do", Ashok later told reporters.

On whether the company was looking at reducing its capital expenditure plans for Indian Oil Corporation as a whole, he replied in the negative and said the group basically goes on a five-year plan towards capital expenditure.
"Year-on-year you can keep comparing, I have come down on apex last year, next year it would have gone up. We have said that in this current five year plan up to 2016-17, we will be spending Rs 56,500 crore approximately," he said.

On the company's Rs 4,500 crore LNG terminal coming up at Ennore in joint venture with Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO), he said it was expected to be completed by 2017-18.
Ashok indicated that the company was open to have joint ventures with outside partner. "Yes, certainly. Somebody who has scores of gas wanting to participate (with us) we are open. We are discussing with a lot of people. We have not finalised anything," he said.