ONGC-HPCL merger on Cabinet agenda today

The proposed merger of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) is on the agenda of the Union Cabinet meeting on Wednesday. The government is likely to give the control of HPCL to ONGC.

“The ONGC-HPCL proposal could be taken up by the Cabinet,” a senior government official said. Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has twice given public statements that the merger of ONGC and HPCL would be completed in the current financial year.

According to a proposal floated by the finance ministry’s Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), the government is looking to sell