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Did Cairn keep Vedanta in dark?
Documents show ONGC, which has a 30% stake in the fields, had written to Cairn India in mid-July for recovering some Rs 14,000 crore royalty it was liable to pay on behalf of its partner before calculating profit. ONGC pays even Cairn's share of the royalty as part of a historical anomaly in policy. Cairn's reply a fortnight later appeared to be concurring with the proposal. It suggested the DGH should be asked how it was to be done. The DGH and the oil ministry had then agreed to the plan. But after ONGC wrote to the ministry reiterating its demand, which is part of the 11 conditions proposed by the ministry for allowing Vedanta resources to acquire control of Cairn India, the company opposed the plan. Cairn even expressed its opposition at a recent meeting of the field's management committee that includes representatives from the ministry, DGH and the companies.
In light of these facts, many in the government doubt whether Vedanta was aware of the communications between ONGC and Cairn. A senior ONGC executive said had the state-run company wanted to acquire Cairn, it would not have offered more than Rs 320 a share. "Vedanta's offer of Rs 405 a share is overvalued. May be Vedanta was not aware of the royalty issue," the executive said.
Queries mailed to Vedanta promoter Anil Agarwal and CFO Tarun Jain did not elicit any response. A Cairn spokesperson, however, said the "company continues to work with the government in a consensual manner to seek necessary approvals for completing the deal with Vedanta".