Steel tycoon Mittal acquires 49 per cent in HPCL

New Delhi, Feb 20 (UNI) Steel tycoon Laxmi Mittal today marked his entry into the oil refining business by snapping up 49 per cent stake in Guru Gobind Singh Refineries being constructed in Punjab by state-run Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL).

This move is expected to revive the Rs 16,000 crore refinery-cum -petrochemicals project coming up at Bhatinda in Punjab. Mr Mittal is expected to invest Rs 3,000 crore in the venture, sources say.

The steel king had already ventured into the oil business by forming an exploration joint venture, ONGC-Mittal Energy Ltd, with ONGC for acquiring oilfields abroad.

ONGC-Mittal has two acreages in Nigeria. Mittal investments had last year bought Russian Lukoil's 50 per cent share in Kazakhstan for a billion dollars.

Before talking to Mittal, HPCL had held talks with Saudi Aramco, BP, ExxonMobil and Total.

Mittal will also partner in the 1,00-km pipeline being laid by HPCL to transport crude from Mundra port in Gujarat to the refinery in Punjab, the sources add.

The investment comes a year after BP pulled out saying the project was unviable. The new refinery at Bhatinda will have a capacity of 1,80,000 barrels a day and is scheduled to be commissioned in 2010-11.

''Mittals have taken a 49 per cent stake while 2 per cent will be (held) by financial institutions,'' Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said.

He said the two parties are seriously discussing on jointly exploring overseas opportunities.

UNI