Mittal likely to acquire stake in HPCL''s Bhatinda refinery

Mumbai: NRI steel tycoon Lakshmi N Mittal is likely to partner state-run Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) in its $3-billion refinery at Bhatinda in Punjab, which is under construction.

HPCL and Mittal Investments are expected to hold 49-per cent stake each in the Guru Gobind Singh Refinery Ltd, the company implementing the project with the remaining two per cent likely to be offered to financial institutions.

In case exploration firm Oil India Ltd (OIL) opts to join as a shareholder the stakes would be on a 26:26:26 basis, with the balance offered in an initial public offer (IPO) before commissioning of the refinery in 2010-11.

"Mittal Investments and HPCL are close to signing a joint venture agreement for jointly building the nine million tonnes a year Bhatinda refinery," an industry source said.

Mittals might extend the partnership with HPCL to the expansion programme of the 7.5-million tonne Vizag refinery and in joint acquisition of oil assets abroad.

Mittal Investments, registered in Luxembourg, is wholly owned by the Mittal family and holds 38 per cent stake in Mittal Steel Company, the Netherlands-based flagship company of the LN Mittal group.