ONGC

July 14 (Reuters) - Two employees of India's Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) MRPL.NS died on Saturday when they were checking tank levels at a plant, the company said on Monday.

They were found unconscious on the tank roof top platform and were declared dead when they were shifted to a nearby hospital, MRPL said. They were field operators.

The company did not specify the location of the plant.

The company, a subsidiary of ONGC ONGC.NS, added it has formed a committee to investigate the incident.

(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee and Yagnoseni Das in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)

(([email protected]; X: @MukherjeeHritam;))

July 11 (Reuters) - Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd ONGC.NS:

• FITCH: - AFFIRMS OIL AND NATURAL GAS CORPORATION AT 'BBB-'; OUTLOOK STABLE

Source text: ID:nFITbHJdFy

Further company coverage: ONGC.NS

(([email protected];))

SINGAPORE, July 8 (Reuters) - For tenders of crude and oil products, please click:

Crude CRU/TENDA Naphtha NAP/TENDA Gasoline MOG/TENDA Jet/Diesel MDIS/TENDA Fuel Oil FUEL/TENDA

(Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh)

(([email protected]))

SINGAPORE, July 4 (Reuters) - For tenders of crude and oil products, please click:

Crude CRU/TENDA Naphtha NAP/TENDA Gasoline MOG/TENDA Jet/Diesel MDIS/TENDA Fuel Oil FUEL/TENDA

(further updates recent tenders closed)

(Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Rashmi Aich)

(([email protected]))

Adds details, background from paragraph 2 onwards

July 3 (Reuters) - India's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation ONGC.NS said on Thursday it has signed an agreement with Japan's second-largest shipping company, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines 9104.T, to build and operate two very large ethane carriers (VLECs).

Under the agreement, the VLECs will ship imported ethane to ONGC Petro additions Ltd (OPaL), a unit of ONGC that operates a dual-feed cracker facility.

ONGC is planning to source 800,000 tons per year of ethane to secure feedstock for OPaL from May 2028, Reuters reported earlier this year.

The agreement is subject to ONGC board's approval, it said in a statement to the exchanges.

(Reporting by Manvi Pant; Editing by Vijay Kishore and Sonia Cheema)

(([email protected]; +918447554364;))

June 27 (Reuters) - Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd ONGC.NS:

• ONGC LTD - DURING SERVICE OPERATIONS ON 12 JUNE, BLOWOUT OCCURRED AT WELL

• ONGC LTD - COMPLETED CAPPING OPERATION AT WELL

Source text: [ID:]

Further company coverage: ONGC.NS

(([email protected];))

June 26 (Reuters) - Indian refiners' throughput in May rose 0.4% year-on-year to 5.47 million barrels per day (23.11 million metric tons), provisional government data showed on Thursday.

Refinery throughput in April was at 5.25 million barrels per day (21.49 million metric tons).

India's fuel demand in May rose to its highest in more than a year, while crude oil imports reached a record high of 23.32 million metric tons.

The country is the world's third-biggest oil importer and consumer.

"What drives refinery runs is domestic demand and refined product net exports. Oil demand was modestly up in May versus one year ago and refined product exports lower versus last year, so I guess that is the reason for the modest change," said Giovanni Staunovo, an analyst at UBS.

The share of Russian oil in India's imports in May declined marginally as refiners cut purchases from Moscow by 15.7% to 1.7 million barrels per day (bpd), tanker data from trade and industry sources showed.

India's Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd MRPL.NS shut its 144,000 bpd crude distillation unit in mid-May, according to a refinery source and four traders who confirmed the development in early May.

REFINERY PRODUCTION IN TERMS OF CRUDE THROUGHPUT (in 1,000 tons):

Source: Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas

IOC: Indian Oil Corp IOC.NS

BPCL: Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd BPCL.NS

HPCL: Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd HPCL.NS

CPCL: Chennai Petroleum Corp Ltd CHPC.NS

MRPL: Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd MRPL.NS

Reliance Industries Ltd RELI.NS

Please note that CPCL's CBR refinery is de-commissioned under shutdown due to limitation in meeting required product specifications with the existing configuration.

(Reporting by Anmol Choubey in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema)

(([email protected];))

June 20 (Reuters) - Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd ONGC.NS:

• APPROVED CORPORATE GUARANTEE UPTO USD 412 MILLION FOR RAISING FUNDS BY OVL OVERSEES IFSC

• FUNDS TO BE UTILISED FOR LENDING TO UNITS FOR MAKING OVERSEAS DIRECT INVESTMENT

Source text: ID:nnAZN40AGQX

Further company coverage: ONGC.NS

(([email protected];;))

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.

By Shritama Bose

MUMBAI, June 18 (Reuters Breakingviews) - India's expectations from its state-owned enterprises are unrealistic. New Delhi wants the profitable ones to make larger and more frequent dividend payments. That can boost government revenue, but the push overlooks companies' shrinking cash piles.

State companies paid out record dividends worth 1.5 trillion rupees ($17.31 billion) during the year ended March, with Oil and Natural Gas Corporation ONGC.NS and lenders including State Bank of India SBI.NS among the top payers. Overall, public sector companies distributed about a quarter of total dividends in the last financial year despite accounting for one tenth of India's market capitalisation.

Now the South Asian country is asking the cohort to increase dividends by about 25% for the financial year to the end of March 2026, Bloomberg reported this month, citing sources, and make the payments on a quarterly basis rather than annually. This looks like a step in the opposite direction of the government's own guideline from November, which relaxed the minimum yearly dividend requirement to the lower of 30% of net profit or 4% of net worth.

There is mounting budget angst. Earlier this year, Arunish Chawla, a secretary in the ministry of finance, argued high payouts are why mutual funds ought to include state-run firms in their investment portfolios. One unspoken aim may be to support public valuations. This would, in turn, help the government to raise revenue by selling state assets. Ensuring payouts at three-month intervals also could help stabilise inflows: tax income turned lumpy after GDP growth slowed through part of last year. The latest personal income tax cuts also will eat into future revenue.

Companies have limited room to step up, however. The cumulative free cash flows after deducting common dividends at eight large non-financial state-owned enterprises stood at 615 billion rupees ($7.14 billion) in March 2024, may have turned negative as of March, and could fall further by 2026, per estimates by Fitch Ratings. That's because the capital expenditure of companies like energy producer NTPC NTPC.NS and utilities provider Power Grid PGRD.NS is rising.

Investors typically shun or discount government-controlled companies precisely because they are vulnerable to official meddling in how they manage their finances. Making too high demands on the state sector is one way to ensure it shrinks sooner rather than later.

Follow Shritama Bose on Linkedin and X.

CONTEXT NEWS

The Indian government is asking state-run companies to increase dividend payouts by about 25% during the financial year to March 31, 2026, to bolster finances in a volatile global environment, Bloomberg reported on June 2, citing unnamed people with knowledge of the matter.

The government is requesting companies to make these payments on a quarterly basis rather than annually, the report added, and wants to collect about 900 billion rupees ($10.5 billion) through dividends in the year through March 2026 compared with 740.2 billion rupees received in the previous year.

(Editing by Una Galani; Production by Ujjaini Dutta)

((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on BOSE/[email protected]))

June 13 (Reuters) - Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd ONGC.NS:

• UPDATE ON GAS RELEASE INCIDENT AT ONGC RUDRASAGAR FIELD

• EFFORTS UNDERWAY TO CONTROL CONTINUOUS GUSH OF GAS FROM RDS#147A IN RUDRASAGAR FIELD

• REQUIRED FLUIDS FOR SUBDUE OPERATION MADE READY, NEXT STEP IN OPERATION EXPECTED TO START AT DAYBREAK TOMORROW

Source text: [ID:]

Further company coverage: ONGC.NS

(([email protected];))

May 5 (Reuters) - Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd ONGC.NS:

• SHELL, RELIANCE, AND ONGC COMPLETE OFFSHORE FACILITIES DECOMMISSIONING PROJECT - STATEMENT

Source text: [ID:]

Further company coverage: ONGC.NS

(([email protected];;))

By Khushi Malhotra

MUMBAI, April 24 (Reuters) - India's Hindustan Petroleum Corp HPCL.NS plans to raise 25 billion rupees ($293 million), including a greenshoe option of 20 billion rupees, by selling bonds maturing in five years, three merchant bankers said on Thursday.

The company has invited bids from bankers and investors for the issue on Monday, they said.

HPCL did not respond to a Reuters email seeking comment.

Here is the list of deals reported so far on April 24:

*Size includes base plus greenshoe for some issues

($1 = 85.3130 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Khushi Malhotra; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)

(([email protected]))

April 18 (Reuters) - India on Friday said it has introduced enhancements to the domestic gas allocation policy with an aim to strengthen the framework for sustained availability and affordability of natural gas.

Under these new directions, from the first quarter of fiscal 2026, domestic natural gas allocations for compressed natural gas (CNG) and piped natural gas (PNG) segments will be done on a two-quarter advance basis, the government said in a statement.

Allocation will also now include new well gas (NWG) from nomination fields of the two state explorers, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation ONGC.NS and Oil India OILI.NS with auction-based allocation for new well gas being replaced with a quarterly pro-rata allocation, to ensure timely and reliable supply, the statement added.

With both administered pricing mechanism gas (APM) and new well gas prices linked to Indian crude basket prices, which are calculated monthly, the government sees the allocation of domestic gas to make natural gas more affordable for CNG and PNG consumers after recent decline in crude prices.

The allocation of natural gas sold under government-set APM has fallen over the years because of lower output at domestic wells. This has led to India's city gas distribution companies like Mahanagar Gas MGAS.NS, Indraprastha Gas IGAS.NS, Gujarat Gas GGAS.NS seeing their margins squeezed in last few quarters.

These policy measures come at a time when the government has cut APM gas allocation to city gas distribution companies by 18%-20%, effective April 16.

(Reporting by Ashish Chandra in Bengaluru, Editing by Franklin Paul)

(([email protected]; +91 7982114624;))

April 15 (Reuters) - India has launched an auction of three coal bed methane blocks and 55 small discovered fields for exploration and production, said Pallavi Jain Govil, head of upstream regulator Directorate General of Hydrocarbons, on Tuesday at an event in Delhi.
Two of the coal bed methane blocks are in the state of West Bengal and one in the western state of Gujarat.
India also signed contacts for oil and gas blocks, offered under a licensing round earlier this year, Govil said, as the world's third largest oil consumer seeks to boost its local output.

The country imports over 80% of its over 5 million barrels per day of oil needs.
India's top explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp ONGC.NS signed contracts for exploration of 11 blocks, while Oil India OILI.NS signed for six blocks.
ONGC also signed an exploration contract for one block in tie up with BP BP.L and Reliance Industries RELI.NS, and teamed up with Oil India for three blocks.
Vedanta VDAN.NS signed contracts for seven blocks and Hindustan Oil Exploration Company HOEX.NS for one block.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma in New Delhi; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)

(([email protected]; +91 7982114624;))

** Shares of oil explorers Oil and Natural Gas Corporation ONGC.NS and Oil India OILI.NS drop 1.5% and 1.7% respectively

** Oil prices fell to their lowest in more than four years on looming demand concerns fuelled by an escalating tariff war between the U.S. and China O/R

** Lower crude prices reduce the average selling price for exploration companies such as ONGC and OILI, weighing on their earnings

** Since U.S. President Donald Trump announced new tariffs on April 2, shares of these two companies have fallen 11% and 11.7% respectively

** Over the same period, Nifty Oil & Gas .NIFOILGAS and Nifty Energy .NIFTYENR fell 5% and 5.4% respectively

(Reporting by Ashish Chandra in Bengaluru)

(([email protected]; +91 7982114624))

By Nidhi Verma

April 3 (Reuters) - India's gasoline demand is expected to peak by 2035, and gasoil (diesel) consumption by 2041 or beyond as motorists shift to cleaner fuels, an executive at Reliance Industries RELI.NS said on Thursday.

India, seen as a key driver for global oil demand growth, has set a goal to eliminate net carbon emissions by 2070.

India is set to lead global oil demand growth this year, surpassing China, with fuel consumption expected to increase throughout the next decade.

"Energy transition is absolutely on the cards. In our country it is not going to be one fuel which is going to be dominant," said Harish Mehta, president of Strategy and Business Development at Reliance Industries.

Apart from gasoline and gasoil, India will see a dominant role of gaseous fuels such as liquefied natural gas, compressed natural gas and compressed biogas in the transportation sector along with electric mobility, Mehta said at an event run by Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell.

India would have a "bouquet of energy sources or the fuels for transport and other things" simultaneously.

Reliance, which operates the world's largest refining complex at Jamnagar in western Gujarat, has two refineries at the complex processing about 1.4 million barrels of crude per day.

To make the fuels affordable and mitigate the impact of volatility in global oil markets for consumers, he expects India's government to continue to intervene in local fuel pricing.

India's oil and gas consumption is expected to grow at 3-4% annually, requiring a push to boost domestic hydrocarbons production, said A. K. Singh, chairman of Oil and Natural Gas Corp ONGC.NS.

Indian Oil Corp IOC.NS chairman, A S Sahney, said as India's energy demand continues to rise, state refiners are expanding capacities by about 20% in the next two years.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)

(([email protected]))

NEW DELHI, March 31 (Reuters) - India has raised the price of its locally produced gas from oil fields by nearly 4% to $6.75 per million metric British thermal units (mmBtu) for April, compared with $6.50/mmBtu for the previous month, a government website showed on Monday.

It is the first revision in two years in the price of gas produced from old fields. In 2023, India fixed a cap of $6.50 per mmBtu for two years with a provision of an annual upward revision of 25 cents from the third year.

India has also set the ceiling price for gas to be produced from difficult fields at $10.04 per mmBtu for April-September, compared to $10.16 per mmBtu in the previous six months, the website of the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell of the oil ministry showed.

The prices will be applicable on a gross heat value basis.

Higher prices of gas produced from oil fields will lead to higher earnings for Oil and Natural Gas Corp and Oil India while raising the prices for industrial buyers and companies in the fertiliser and city gas distribution sectors.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)

(([email protected]; +91 11 49548031; Reuters Messaging: [email protected]))

** Shares of Oil and Natural Gas Ltd ONGC.NS and Bharat Petroleum Corp BPCL.NS up 3% and 1%, respectively

** Stocks rise following Reuters' report on Thursday, citing sources, that Saudi Aramco was in talks to invest in two planned refineries in India

** Aramco was in separate talks with BPCL and ONGC to invest in their refineries, according to the report

** ONGC is among the top gainers on the Nifty 50 index .NSEI, which is down 0.4%

** ONGC's trading vols at 2.5x its 30-day avg, while BPCL vols at nearly equal to its 30-day avg

** YTD, ONGC up 4%, while BPCL is down about 5%

(Reporitng by Nishit Navin)

(([email protected];))

Corrects paragraph 14 to say India's foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment

By Nidhi Verma

NEW DELHI, March 27 (Reuters) - Saudi Aramco is in talks to invest in two planned refineries in India as the world's top oil exporter looks for a stable outlet for its crude in the world's fastest-growing emerging market, several Indian sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.

India, the world's third-biggest oil consumer and importer, wants to become a global refining hub as Western companies cut crude processing capacity in their shift to cleaner fuels.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's share of India's oil imports has declined as refiners that have invested billions of dollars in upgrading their plants diversify crude sources to tap cheaper alternatives, including from Russia.

Aramco is in separate talks to invest in Bharat Petroleum Corp's (BPCL) BPCL.NS planned refinery in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh and a proposed Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) ONGC.NS refinery in western Gujarat state, the sources said.

Aramco, BPCL and ONGC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Both Indian firms are state-controlled.

While ONGC's Gujarat refinery plans are at a nascent stage, BPCL's chairman said in December that it aimed to invest $11 billion in its Andhra Pradesh refinery and petrochemical project.

Two refinery sources said separately that the projects would proceed regardless of whether Aramco invests.

"It all depends on the proposal that Aramco gives," one of them said.

Sources said state-controlled Aramco proposes to supply oil equivalent to three times its stake in each project, and wants to sell its share of production either in India or by export.

"We want flexibility in crude procurement. If we give them 30% stake, they want to supply crude equivalent to 90% of the capacity, which is not possible," the second refinery source said.

Other details, including potential investment size and the configuration of the planned refineries, were not immediately available.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi plans to visit Saudi Arabia in the second quarter, and the two countries will attempt to reach an agreement before the visit, said a third source with knowledge of the matter.

India's foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

Aramco has long been scouting for refining opportunities in India.

In 2018 it joined a consortium of Indian companies to build a 1.2 million barrels per day refinery and petrochemical project in western India and in 2019 it signed a non-binding agreement for a 20% stake in Reliance Industries' RELI.NS oil to chemical business.

However, the huge refinery project has been delayed by difficulties over procuring land and the deal with Reliance was called off due to differences over valuation.

In January, Indian Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said India would look to set up three refineries of 400,000 bpd each.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma. Additional reporting by Shivam Patel in New Delhi and Yousef Saba in Dubai. Editing by Mark Potter)

(([email protected]; +91 11 49548031; Reuters Messaging: [email protected]))

Adds detail

March 25 (Reuters) - Indian refiners' throughput in February fell 4.5% year on year to 5.12 million barrels per day (21.67 million metric tons), provisional government data showed on Tuesday.

Refinery throughput in January was at 5.61 million barrels per day (23.74 million metric tons).

India's crude oil imports fell 9.9% month on month to 19.10 million tons in February, the lowest since November 2024, according to government data released on Thursday, while February fuel demand fell 5.4% from the same month last year.

India is the world's third-biggest oil importer and consumer.

Meanwhile, U.S. exports of crude oil to India last month climbed to their highest in more than two years, ship tracking data showed, as refiners in the country sought alternative supplies following tighter U.S. sanctions on Russian producers and tankers.

REFINERY PRODUCTION IN TERMS OF CRUDE THROUGHPUT (in 1,000 tons):

Source: Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas

IOC: Indian Oil Corp IOC.NS

BPCL: Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd BPCL.NS

HPCL: Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd HPCL.NS

CPCL: Chennai Petroleum Corp Ltd CHPC.NS

MRPL: Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd MRPL.NS

Reliance Industries Ltd RELI.NS

Please note that CPCL's CBR refinery is de-commissioned under shutdown due to limitation in meeting required product specifications with the existing configuration.

(Reporting by Rahul Paswan in Bengaluru
Editing by David Goodman)

(([email protected] ; If within U.S. +1 646 223 8780;;))

March 17 (Reuters) - Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd ONGC.NS:

• OIL AND NATURAL GAS CORPORATION - RECEIVES ORDER FROM JOINT COMMISSIONER STATE TAX, JODHPUR

• ONGC - GETS TAX DEMAND OF 113.2 MILLION RUPEES, INTEREST OF 95.1 MILLION RUPEES, PENALTY OF 11.3 MILLION RUPEES

Source text: ID:nBSE3Z6K1k

Further company coverage: ONGC.NS

(([email protected];))

March 11 (Reuters) - NTPC Ltd NTPC.NS:

• INDIA COMPETITION REGULATOR- APPROVES PROPOSED COMBINATION INVOLVING ACQUISITION OF AYANA RENEWABLE POWER BY ONGC NTPC GREEN

Source text: [ID:]

Further company coverage: NTPC.NS

(([email protected];;))

March 7 (Reuters) - ONGC Petro Additions:

• DEVELOPMENT COMMISSIONER GRANTS FINAL EXIT TO CO FROM DAHEJ SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONE

• CO SHALL OPERATE AS A DOMESTIC TARIFF AREA UNIT

Source text: ID:nBSE6D0zhh

Further company coverage: ONGC.NS

(([email protected];;))

Adds details, background

March 4 (Reuters) - India's Reliance Industries RELI.NS said on Tuesday the country's Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry has raised a demand of $2.81 billion from the company, BP Exploration and Niko in a gas drilling dispute case.

On February 14, a division bench at Delhi High Court ruled against Reliance and its partners in a dispute regarding extraction of gas in a deepwater field in India's KG D6 block in the Krishna Godavari basin in the country's eastern coast.

The company has been legally advised that the division bench judgment and this provisional demand are unsustainable and is taking steps to challenge the judgment, Reliance said in an exchange filing, adding it does not expect any liability due to this case.

Reliance had earlier said that it would appeal the decision in the country's Supreme Court.

The Indian government in 2016 sent a notice to Reliance and its partners, asking to deposit about $1.55 billion on account of alleged gas migration from nearby blocks of state-run ONGC ONGC.NS.

Reliance contested the claims and an arbitral tribunal in July 2018 upheld the company's claims.

The Indian government filed an appeal and in May 2023, a single judge of Delhi High Court upheld the arbitration award, dismissing the government's appeal.

In February 2025, a division bench of the Delhi High Court set aside the single judge order, ruling against Reliance and its partners.

(Reporting by Sethuraman NR; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)

(([email protected]; (+91 9945291420); Reuters Messaging: [email protected]))

Feb 26 (Reuters) - Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd ONGC.NS:

• ONGC - CLARIFIES REPORT "DID ONGC HIDE MAJOR LEGAL VICTORY AGAINST RELIANCE INDUSTRIES"

• ONGC LTD - CO IS NOT A PARTY IN ABOVE REFERRED COURT CASE

• ONGC - REPORTED CASE IS BETWEEN GOVERNMENT OF INDIA, RELIANCE INDUSTRIES

Source text: ID:nBSE48R0lh

Further company coverage: ONGC.NS

(([email protected];))

Feb 24 (Reuters) - Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd ONGC.NS:

• ONGC LTD - INVESTMENT IN WHOLLY OWNED SUBSIDIARY ONGC GREEN FOR 12 BILLION RUPEES

• OIL AND NATURAL GAS CORPORATION LTD - TO USE RIGHTS EQUITY PROCEEDS TO ACQUIRE PTC ENERGY

Source text: ID:nnAPN2NURLC

Further company coverage: ONGC.NS

(([email protected];))

NEW DELHI, Feb 19 (Reuters) - India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp ONGC.NS is seeking joint venture partners to build very large ethane carriers (VLECs) to ship feedstock for its petrochemical plant in western India, according to a document posted on the company's website.

ONGC Petro additions Ltd (OPaL), a unit of ONGC, operates a dual feed cracker. ONGC plans to source 800,000 ton per year (tpy) ethane to secure feedstock for the plant from May 2028.

ONGC is seeking partnership with companies with experience in the operation and management of VLECs, very large gas carriers and liquefied natural gas carriers in the global market, it said.

The proposed joint ventures will secure local and foreign funding and select shipyards for construction of VLECs.

ONGC will be responsible for shipping of ethane and chartering of VLECs from the planned joint venture.

The last date for submission of interest is March 27.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma
Editing by Bernadette Baum)

(([email protected]; +91 11 49548031; Reuters Messaging: [email protected]))

Corrects company name in paragraph 4 to British International Investment from British International Investment Fund

Feb 12 (Reuters) - State-owned explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) ONGC.NS said on Wednesday that its joint venture with utility firm NTPC Green Energy NTPG.NS will acquire Ayana Renewable Power, which operates solar and wind plants.

Ayana is valued at $2.3 billion including debt, ONGC said in a statement.

The 50-50 joint venture outbid JSW Energy JSWE.NS for the renewable energy firm, Reuters had reported in November, citing sources.

Ayana, owned by quasi-sovereign wealth fund National Investment and Infrastructure Fund, British International Investment and Green Growth Equity Fund, operates plants that produce 1,600 megawatts in India and has another 2,500 megawatts in such projects under construction.

The acquisition comes at a time when large power producers in India are betting big on renewables and making pledges to expand their green energy capacities.

The Indian government has pledged to add 500 gigawatts of clean energy by 2030 to reduce carbon emissions.

(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee and Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)

(([email protected]; X: @MukherjeeHritam;))

Feb 12 (Reuters) - State-owned explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) ONGC.NS said on Wednesday that its joint venture with utility firm NTPC Green Energy NTPG.NS will acquire Ayana Renewable Power Pvt Ltd.

Ayana is valued at $2.3 billion including debt, ONGC said in a statement.

(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)

(([email protected]; X: @MukherjeeHritam;))

By Nidhi Verma and Sethuraman N R

NEW DELHI, Feb 11 (Reuters) - State-run Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL) HPCL.NS plans to increase the capacity of its Vizag oil refinery in southern India by as much as 20% to meet growing local fuel demand, its chairman Rajneesh Narang said.

India is raising its crude processing capacity as the world's third-largest oil importer and consumer wants to be a major global refining hub while its fuel demand is expected to continue growing for the next decade.

HPCL recently expanded the capacity of the Vizag refinery to 300,000 barrels per day and is looking for a further increase.

"We are exploring raising the (annual) capacity by 2-3 million (metric) tons (40,000-60,000 bpd). We have to take a board approval for this," Narang told Reuters at the India Energy Week conference, without providing the estimated cost or timeframe.

HPCL will soon start operations at the Vizag refinery's new secondary units, including a 3.5 million-ton-per-year (tpy) residue upgradation unit to boost its distillate yield by 10% and improve its gross refining margin (GRM) by $3 per barrel. It will also bring online a 2.6 million tpy diesel hydro desulphuriser.

India's fuel demand is expected to rise alongside the expansion of its economy, though motorists are being drawn to electric vehicles and industries are switching to renewables from diesel-generated electricity to cut their carbon footprints.

To future-proof its plants, HPCL is also building a petrochemical plant at its 180,000 bpd Barmer refinery in the desert state of Rajasthan.

The refinery is India's first plant to have a highest petrochemical intensity - the percentage of crude oil that is converted into chemicals - of 26%.

While crude processing at the Barmer refinery will begin in June-July, the petrochemical project will start operation by December, Narang said.

The company plans to operate the Rajasthan refinery through spot oil purchases and would sign annual crude purchase deals for the plant from next year after the units stabilise, he added.

HPCL also operates a 190,000 bpd Mumbai refinery in western India.

The company imports about 21 million tons of crude annually, with about 8 million to 9 million tons procured from the spot markets, Narang said.

To cut its crude import cost, the refiner set up a crude trading desk last year that negotiates with oil sellers for better terms instead of floating tenders for spot purchases, he added.

(1 metric ton = 7.3 barrels of crude)

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Florence Tan and Jamie Freed)

(([email protected]; +91 11 49548031; Reuters Messaging: [email protected]))