Stake For Ongc, Oil In Refinery

The corporations have individually sought clearances from

the ministry of petroleum and natural gas in order to invest in this refinery.

With the government's approval expected soon, ONGC and OIL will be able to enter the downstream oil business of refining and marketing.

In this three million tonne grassroot refinery, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) is the majority shareholder with a 32 per cent stake.

IBP and the government of Assam will hold 19 per cent and 10 per cent respectively.

As per the earlier plan, the remaining 39 per cent was to be offered to the public..

Now, with both ONGC and OIL picking up the stake, there is some revision in the equity structure.

 

It is learnt that only 15 per cent (Rs 128.90 crore ) will now be offered to the public.

NRL is estimated to cost of Rs 2,454.9 crore ( based on October 1995 prices).

Of this, the Oil Industry Development Board is expected to provide a loan to the extent of Rs 1,317 crore.

Based on a debt-equity ratio of 2:1, the promoters (BPCL, IBP, Assam government) will be contributing Rs 499 crore.

According to sources, the refinery has an advantage since it is designed to process north east crude oil from ONGC and OIL, giving the refinery the benefit of a ``well head'' refinery.

Almost 39 per cent of the construction and engineering work has been made towards implementation of the project. As of mid-July 1996, a commitment of Rs 1,024 crore has already been made and an expenditure of Rs 398 crore has been incurred. The refinery is scheduled for completion by December 1998.

The refinery will have state-of-the-art secondary processing units consisting of a hydrocracker to produce high quality and environment friendly middle distillates along with a coke calcination unit to produce high quality coke which will be utilised for the aluminium industry.