Having entered oil exploration market, Mittal is buying 49 per cent stake in Guru Gobind Singh Refineries as an equal partner with state-owned HPCL to revive the Rs.6,000 crore refinery-cum-petrochem project at Bhatinda in Punjab. Mittal would invest over Rs.3,000 crore as foreign direct investment through his Luxembourg-based group holding company Mittal Investments Sarl.

Mittal will also be a partner in the 1,100-km pipeline being laid by HPCL to transport crude from Mundra port in Gujarat to the refinery.

The HPCL board on 19 February 2007 cleared the proposal but is yet to decide on the funding. The deal would be announced shortly. An agreement is expected to be signed by end-February 2007.

The project that had been delayed for the last eight-odd years would have a nine million tonne refining capacity and would be complete with a polypropylene plant.

Also see

Mittal in JV with HPCL for Bhatinda refinery project (15-Dec-2006)