Hindustan Petroleum Corporation has listed the President of India as its promoter in filings to the exchanges for the March and June quarters, while Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, which owns a majority stake in the refiner, has been listed under 'other shareholders'.
ONGC had bought the government's 51.11 percent stake in HPCL for Rs 36,915 crore in January this year.
The filings have not gone down well with ONGC, and the state-owned oil and gas explorer is now seeking a resolution from the government, according to a report by the Financial Express.
Minority shareholders of ONGC have also raised the issue with the company's board.
Prithvi Haldea of PRIME Database of pointed out that according to the Securities and Exchange Board of India's rules, the entity that owns the controlling stake should be listed as promoter even if they were not the original promoters of the company.
When Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) had bought majority stake in Chennai Petroleum Corporation, it was listed as the latter's promoter in every instance after the deal.
HPCL may not be listing ONGC as its promoter due to a clash of egos between the members of the two companies, according to a government official.
ONGC had bought controlling stake in HPCL because the government wanted to create an oil conglomerate to match other oil and gas companies, to bear higher risks, and for multiple other reasons.
