ONGC, Indian Oil to make joint bid for JBF Petrochemicals

ONGC and Indian Oil will submit a joint financial bid for JBF Petrochemicals, the former said in response to ET's queries on its interest to acquire the Mangalore-based bankrupt chemicals company under corporate insolvency process.

"ONGC has entered into a consortium with Indian Oil for the purpose indicated in your trailing email and is likely to submit a financial bid shortly," an ONGC spokesperson said in an email reply. JBF Petrochemicals is also on the wish list of private sector rivals such as Reliance Industries.

ET had first reported on May 27 that Reliance Industries, HPCL-Mittal Energy, Jindal Poly Films, Gail, Jindal Power, MCPI Ltd, and a consortium of ONGC and Indian Oil have submitted expressions of interest (EoI) for JBF Petrochemicals.


The submission of EoIs is a first step, following which interested parties are allowed to carry out due diligence on the target company and then submit financial bids to acquire it. JBF Petrochemicals, a manufacturer of purified terephthalic acid, or PTA, has debt of ₹4,700 crore. The deadline for submission of financial bids for JBF Petrochemicals is around the end of this month, people aware of the matter said.

JBF Petrochemicals' resolution professional Sundaresh Bhatt did not respond to ET's queries and text messages as of press time on Monday.

PTA is an industrial chemical used for manufacturing of textiles, food-grade plastics and bottles. It is also used as coating in the paints and steel industries. Because of its uses in consumption driven sectors, it is in high demand.

KKR-backed JBF Petrochemicals was admitted to NCLT in January after an out-of-court settlement between lenders and Reliance Industries in partnership with asset reconstruction company Assets Care and Enterprise Ltd collapsed, people aware of the matter said. Lenders had initiated talks with ONGC and Gail prior to the company's admission into the bankruptcy process but those did not progress.