State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), is in discussions with Saudi Aramco of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait Investment Authority and Qatar Investment Authority for selling 25-30% stake in an Rs 21,396 crore mega petrochemical plant at Gujarat. Further, ONGC has ordered Ernst & Young to search for a strategic partner who could be a technology provider or a marketer of chemicals the plant will produce.
Basically, ONGC Petro additions (OPaL) is building a 1.1 million tonnes plant at Dahej in Gujarat. The plant, which was originally scheduled to be commissioned by December this year, running behind schedule, is now expected to come up sometime in 2015. While, ONGC holds 26% stake in OPaL, state gas utility GAIL India holds 15.5% in OPaL and Gujarat State Petroleum Corp (GPSC) another 5%. Meanwhile, state Bank of India, the lead banker to the project, has offered to take 3-5% of equity on closure of the debt syndication exercise.
