Shares of ONGC, HPCL and Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals rose 1.59% to 5% at 15:08 IST on BSE on buzz of a merger taking place soon between ONGC and HPCL.
ONGC (up 1.59% at Rs 162.85), HPCL (up 5% at Rs 359.05) and Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals (MRPL) (up 3.67% at Rs 127.20) edged higher.
Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 36.04 points or 0.11% at 37,783.13.
Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan was quoted by media agencies as saying that the merger between ONGC and HPCL will be completed in the current financial year (FY 2018).
ONGC and HPCL both hold stakes in MRPL. ONGC held 71.63% stake and HPCL owned 16.96% end March 2017.
There was a buzz in media from earlier this month that the government was looking to sell 51% stake in HPCL to ONGC for over Rs 26000 crore. After the Cabinet nod, the government could move to appoint valuation and transaction advisers while ONGC too may decide to hire merchant bankers to arrive at the valuation of government shareholding, reports suggested.
Government of India (GoI) held 68.07% stake in ONGC and 51.11% in HPCL end March 2017.
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