ONGC Hikes Stake In Petchem Subsidiary OPaL To 94.04% For Rs 5,594.80 Crore

State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp. has increased its stake in ONGC Petro Additions Ltd. to 94.04% after acquiring additional equity for Rs 5,594.80 crore.

"ONGC paid Rs 5594,79,69,350 to OPaL for allotment of 559,47,96,935 equity shares of Rs 10 each," ONGC's exchange filing stated.

On Sept. 25, ONGC's board had approved investments in equity shares of OPaL for Rs 10,501 crore in one or more tranches. The company shall make investments in equity shares of OPaL, as and when offered, subject to a ceiling of Rs 10,501 crore, according to the approval of the government of India, it had said then.

OPaL, a subsidiary of ONGC, operates a mega petrochemical complex in Gujarat with a capacity to produce 14 lakh tonnes of polymers and 5 lakh tonnes of chemicals annually. The company reported a turnover of Rs 14,323 crore in FY24.

The acquisition aligns with ONGC's objective of vertical integration into downstream petrochemicals, as approved by the Government of India. The investment was made through a rights issue, the statement said.

OPaL was incorporated in 2006 and operates a 5 sq. km. plant in Dahej SEZ in Gujarat. The plant has a capacity to produce 14 lakh tonnes of polymers and 5 lakh tonnes of chemicals—1,100 KTPA ethylene, 400 KTPA propylene and the associated units consist of a pyrolysis gasoline hydrogenation unit, a butadiene extraction unit and a benzene extraction unit.

The products are supplied in both domestic and export markets, it said.

OPaL has the largest standalone dual-feed cracker in Southeast Asia.

A dual-feed cracker converts naphtha and offgases from refining into polymer-grade ethylene and propylene using a process that is known as thermal cracking. Thermal cracking can also produce byproducts such as benzene, butadiene, gasoline, and toluene.

In the last three years, the turnover of OPaL has consistently declined from Rs 16,065 crore in FY22 to Rs 14,628 crore in FY23. In the preceding financial year, it came down to Rs 14,323 crore.

Shares of ONGC closed 0.99% down on BSE compared with a 0.19% decline in the benchmark Sensex on Tuesday.