Loss-making Assam Petrochemicals (APL) is in the process of de-listing the company from the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) amidst the proposal of Oil India to buy stake in the firm.
State-run OIL is in talks with Assam government, which is holding 88.2 per cent stake in APL, for buying 49 per cent equity in the company. Domestic institutions and others hold the remaining stake in APL.
APL posted a net loss of Rs 1.06 crore in 2011-12, compared to a net loss of Rs 10.23 crore in 2010-11. Through this acquisition, OIL plans to infuse equity capital of about Rs 230 crore in the company. It will also partly fund Rs 1,030-crore investment in building a new petrochemical plant at Namrup in Assam.
In order to fund its expansion and diversification project, APL was looking for a partner. It plans to implement a 500-tonne-a-day (TPD) methanol plant, along with a downstream plant of value-added product for production of 200 TPD acetic acid. Earlier, APL's plan was to implement the project at a debt-equity ratio of 2.5:1.
APL is said to be the first company in India to manufacture petrochemicals using natural gas as feedstock.
OIL may reportedly clinch a deal with the Assam government, which holds stake in the company through Assam Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC), by October.