The GMR Group, a major name in the construction business, has said that it will spend Rs 310 billion in order to get hold of the refinery and petrochemical plant being planned by the state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) in Andhra Pradesh’s Kakinada region. A GMR officer infact has confirmed this but asked his identity to be kept undercover. The officer said that since the amount of stake has not been decided, the company does not want to divulge anything about this project yet. What the GMR Group is finding enticing about this project, the officer pointed out, is that that it will be developed in a special economic zone.

Further on, Kakinada has got ports which will help scale down logistics cost. The Kakinada Refinery and Petrochemicals (KRPL) project comprises 15 million tonne each annum refinery plus a 450,000 tonne per annum petrochemical plant. The ONGC’s subsidiary, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL) holds 46 per cent stake in KRPL and infrastructure financing firm IL&FS has 51 per cent. The remaining stake is held by Kakinada Seaports. Industry insiders reported that the KRPL will hold a board meeting soon to take a decision on the stake sale.