New Delhi: A row has erupted between ONGC and HPCL over who is the promoter of the latter following its takeover by the former.
Virtually rejecting ONGC's demand, Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) has said it is acting according to its understanding of the statute in not recognising the new majority shareholder as its promoter.
"Whatever we are doing, whatever we have done and whatever we will be doing will be as per our understanding of the statute and the guidelines and Companies Act and the Sebi guidelines. Beyond that who is interpreting whatever, it is his understanding of the situation. We need not subscribe to that," HPCL CMD Mukesh Kumar Surana told reporters.
He was asked about ONGC seeking recognition as the promoter of the company post acquisition of a majority stake in HPCL. Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) had in January this year bought the government's entire 51.11 per cent stake in HPCL for Rs 36,915 crore. Post that, HPCL had become a subsidiary of ONGC.
But HPCL in its regulatory filing to the stock exchanges, the latest being on July 12, still lists "President of India" as the promoter with "zero" per cent shareholding. ONGC, on the other hand, is listed under "Public Shareholder". ONGC has written to the HPCL management asking it to take steps to rectify the filings to reflect the true promoter of the company. Asked about ONGC's request, Surana said, "Everybody is free to express their views. Our actions will be guided by what we think is right."
Since the ONGC takeover in January, HPCL has made two stock exchange filings about the shareholding pattern of the company - the first on April 20 and then on July 12. In both, ONGC is shown as the public shareholder and President of India listed as the promoter.
Pradhan view
Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan has said ONGC is the new promoter of HPCL as he tried to put an end to the row where HPCL had refused to recognise the former as its promoter despite it acquiring majority shares.
"Today, it is ONGC. ONGC is the promoter of HPCL," Pradhan told reporters.
