Page 134 - CW E-Magazine (19-9-2023)

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FINANCIAL RESTRUCTURING

ONGC to take full control of OPaL with Rs.15,000-crore

infusion

State-owned Oil and Natural Gas
Corporation (ONGC) will infuse about
Rs. 15,000-crore in ONGC Petro-addi-
tions Ltd. (OPaL) as part of a fi nancial
restructuring exercise that will see gas
utility GAIL being edged out of the
petrochemical fi rm. ONGC currently
holds 49.36 percent stake in OPaL,
which operates a mega petrochemical
plant at Dahej in Gujarat. GAIL (India)
Ltd. has 49.21 percent interest and OPaL was incorporated on Novem- mega petrochemical complex at Dahej.
Gujarat State Petrochemical Corp. (GSPC) ber 15, 2006, as a mega, grassroots But the project faced major cost and
has the remaining 1.43 percent. petrochemical complex to use naphtha time overruns and GAIL decided to
produced by ONGC at Hazira as well restrict its equity contribution to the
The ONGC board recently approved as rich-gas being imported at Dahej. It original Rs. 996.28-crore.
a fi nancial restructuring of the petchem is an anchor tenant of Dahej PCPIR and
fi rm which had been making losses due has exported its products to more than The plant, which at the time of
to its high debt. ONGC will convert 50 countries. OPaL mega petrochemi- conception was projected to cost
share warrants into equity, buy-back cal complex has a capacity to produce Rs. 12,440-crore, was completed only in
debentures and invest Rs. 7,000-crore 1.5 million tonnes per annum of poly- 2017 at a cost of about Rs. 30,000-crore.
more equity, which will give it about mers (1,100 kilo tonnes per annum
95 percent stake, the company said in (ktpa) ethylene, 400-ktpa propylene), GAIL and GSPC will now together
a stock exchange fi ling. The proposal 0.5 million tonnes of chemicals, and hold close to 5 percent in OPaL post-
approved includes “conversion of several other products through the fi nancial restructuring. ONGC had in-
share warrants issued by OPaL and associated units of pyrolysis gasoline vested about Rs. 4,400-crore as equity
subscribed by ONGC into equity shares hydrogenation unit, butadiene extrac- and warrants in OPaL. As a Maharatna
upon payment of fi nal call money of tion unit and benzene extraction unit. PSU, it is permitted to invest only up
Rs. 86.281-crore at the rate of Rs. 0.25 to Rs. 5,000-crore in a joint venture.
per warrant,” it said. Also, ONGC will GAIL had in 2008 picked up a stake OPaL’s accumulated losses touched
“buy-back compulsory convertible in OPaL, which was then building the Rs. 13,000.3-crore on March 31, 2023.
debentures (CCDs) of Rs. 7,778-crore.”
CCDs issued by OPaL with backstop- Anupam Rasayan India appoints
ping support of ONGC are presently
held by fi nancial institutions. Gopal Agrawal as CEO
Surat-based speciality chemicals
ONGC will also invest Rs. fi rm, Anupam Rasayan India Ltd., has
7,000-crore in equity/quasi-equity announced the appointment of Mr.
security of OPaL, it said. Upon im- Gopal Agrawal as Chief Executive
plementation, OPaL would become a Offi cer (CEO), effective from Septem-
subsidiary of ONGC, it added. The fi nan- ber 11, 2023.
cial restructuring “will augment the
holding of ONGC in OPaL and OPaL Mr. Agrawal is a qualifi ed Char-
will become more profi table,” it said, tered Accountant with nearly 22 years
adding that the total cost of acquisition of experience. He was last serving as Investment Banking business at Edel-
would be Rs. 14,864.281-crore. Managing Director and Head of the weiss.

134 Chemical Weekly September 19, 2023

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