State-owned oil refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd's profit rose 22.6 per cent in the third quarter, beating estimates. Profit rose to Rs 19.50 billion ($303.05 million), compared with Rs 15.90 billion a year earlier. Analysts on average had expected a profit of Rs 15.50 billion, according to Thomson Reuters data. Income from operations rose over 13 per cent to Rs 628.32 billion. The country's biggest explorer, Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), last month agreed to buy the government's majority stake in HPCL for Rs 369 billion.
