MCA go-ahead for KRL-BPCL merger

MUMBAI: The long-awaited merger of Kochi Refineries (KRL) with Mumbai-based Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) was sanctioned by the ministry of company affairs (MCA) on Friday.

The merger, pending for the past two years, is being challenged by an investor who went to the Kerala High Court questioning the DCA’s authority to approve the merger.

The Post-merger the BPCL group’s refining capacity will go up to 22.5m tonnes per annum. The company is also likely to achieve a greater efficiency by way of optimisation of product mix and rationalisation of logistics for the movement of products from the refinery at Kochi.

The merger will enable BPCL to evacuate products from the Kochi refinery to a larger geographical area since the local demand in Kerala is only about 4m tonnes. BPCL plans to invest about Rs 5,000 crore in various projects including enhancing KRL’s capacity to 10m tonnes.