L N Mittal to visit Punjab and Bathinda Refinery site

Chandigarh, July 25 (UNI) Steel baron L N Mittal whose company Mittal Enegry Investments will be executing the prestigious Rs 17,973 crore Guru Gobind Singh Oil Refinery at Bathinda in a joint venture with HPCL, will be visiting the refinery site and would also assess the economic scenario in Punjab for investments in other projects.

This assurance was given to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal by Mr Mittal when the two met in the office of Union Petroleum Minister Murli Deora at New Delhi today.

Mr Badal requested the UK-based billionare for expeditious execution and completion of the refirnery project by December 2010.

Taking part in the deliberations, Mr Badal thanked Mr Deora for taking personal initiative and getting the Bathinda refinery cleared from the Union Cabinet. He said this project would radically change the economy of the state, generate thousands of jobs and most importantly, re-buff any politically motivated propaganda that investors were fleeing Punjab since the SAD-BJP ruling combine was voted to power.

It may be recalled that the investment by Mr Mittal of Rs 3,506 crore is the first and the largest foreign direct investment (FDI) brought into the petroleum refining sector in collaboration with a PSU (HPCL). Mr Mittal's plans to acquire the stake in the refinery for Rs 3,365 crore through its wholly owned subsidiary Mittal Energy Investments Pte Ltd, incorporated in Singapore.

The Cabinet approval was required since current government policy restricts FDI in public sector petroleum refineries to upto 26 per cent. Mittal Energy and HPCL will hold 49 per cent stake each in Bathinda refinery project being executed by Guru Gobind Singh Refinery Ltd, while the balance two per cent would be allocated to financial institutions.

While interacting, Mr Deora said that now the decks had been cleared for the speedy implementation of the project which had been hanging fire for the past several years. He said that this major development project in the state would transform the economic landscape of Punjab.

On the occasion, the Chief Minister assured full support and cooperation to the Mittal Group for the execution of this project and said that it was just a modest beginning and the state government would soon tie up with Mr Mittal for exploring other opportunities, to tap the industrial potential and to herald an era of industrialisation in the state.

UNI