Pradhan: Big task ahead New Delhi, Feb. 19: The petroleum ministry has asked the chiefs of state-owned oil companies to come up with concrete plans in the next four weeks on the budget proposal to merge them. A meeting was held with the heads of the state-owned oil firms and the petroleum secretary to discuss the integration plan and the companies have been asked to come up with possible merger scenarios, sources said. They indicated that the state-owned firms have been asked to point out the advantages and disadvantages of various merger plans in the next four weeks. A GAIL executive said their business model was distinct from others and the company may remain a separate vertical even in the case of a merger. Incidentally, a similar merger proposal was considered more than a decade ago, but was set aside when a committee that studied the matter said such a merger may not be feasible.

Source: The Telegraph February 19, 2017 20:37 UTC