<p>State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) will not sell its stake in IOC and GAIL in the near future as it has used internal resources to repay close to a third of the Rs 24,881 crore loan it had taken to buy Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL), people with direct knowledge of the matter said.</p>.<p>ONGC had in January received government approval to sell its 13.77% stake in IOC and 4.86% state in gas utility GAIL India to help fund the Rs 36,915 crore acquisition of HPCL.</p>.<p>“IOC shares were trading at around Rs 195 in January and it is now at Rs 159 (Friday’s closing). It doesn’t make sense to sell the shares at such a big loss,” a person with direct knowledge of the matter said.</p>
<p>State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) will not sell its stake in IOC and GAIL in the near future as it has used internal resources to repay close to a third of the Rs 24,881 crore loan it had taken to buy Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL), people with direct knowledge of the matter said.</p>.<p>ONGC had in January received government approval to sell its 13.77% stake in IOC and 4.86% state in gas utility GAIL India to help fund the Rs 36,915 crore acquisition of HPCL.</p>.<p>“IOC shares were trading at around Rs 195 in January and it is now at Rs 159 (Friday’s closing). It doesn’t make sense to sell the shares at such a big loss,” a person with direct knowledge of the matter said.</p>