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Birla group seeks okay to market petro goods

India's Aditya Birla conglomerate has asked the Union government to allow its joint venture with oil refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corporation to market petroleum products, the company said on Wednesday.

Currently the joint venture, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals, sells its products through HPCL.

The government allows marketing of petroleum products only by state-run companies such as HPCL and Bharat Petroleum Corporation.

"MRPL makes no profit from the marketing of the products currently. The company needs to market its own products," a Birla group spokeswoman said.

She declined to comment on a report in a business newspaper on Wednesday which said the group had written to the government about differences with HPCL. The report also said the Birlas wanted to exit MRPL.

The report said differences between the partners had adversely impacted stake sale talks with Kuwait Petroleum Corporation.

MRPL managing director Ravi Kastia said that talks were still on with KPC for it to pick up a stake in MRPL.

"There is progress on the talks," Kastia said, adding that he expected a deal in two to three months.

The Birla group and HPCL each hold a 37.38 per cent stake in the company, with the rest held by the public.

The talks with Kuwait Petroleum aimed to make MRPL a three-way equal-stakes joint venture in which Birla, HPCL and KPC each have a 26 per cent stake, said Kastia.

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