MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Monday, Indian media reported that the country's government was set to begin consultations on merging 13 major oil companies, including the leading gas producer Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, leading refiner and fuel retailer Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum and the Indian Oil Corporation.
The proposed giant would have a bigger market value than Russia' Rosneft estimated at $55 billion, according to reports.
"There is no such plan right now. Although few years ago a proposal for merger of oil companies was discussed within the ministry but the whole idea shelved due to its legislative and technical aspects. Government has no plans to merge the 13 Oil Public Sector Units in immediate future," Y.K. Baweja, director (M&C) at the ministry's Press Information Bureau, said.
A similar proposal was turned down by a relevant committee in 2005 as it considered the formation of the conglomerate not be advisable at the given time.
