ONGC’s plan to merge Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals with HPCL delayed

ONGC’s plan to complete the merger of its refining subsidiary Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) with recently acquired Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) to align its upstream and downstream operations into two verticals has been delayed. The process is now expected to be completed by 2023-24 as ONGC has decided to consolidate its refining and petrochemicals business around MRPL first before pushing for its merger. The board of MRPL on October 19, 2020 had approved the acquisition of a 49 per cent stake in ONGC Mangalore Petrochemical Limited (OMPL) from ONGC. This has paved the way for merging OMPL with MRPL. Once this is done, the next stage of merging MRPL with HPCL will begin.