New Delhi, May 8
A Parliamentary Standing Committee today decried the government’s intentions to decouple Bathinda and Bina refineries from the HPCL and the BPCL.

The committee, headed by Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, which submitted its report in the Lok Sabha, observed that the government had not taken the final decision on the execution of the Bathinda and Bina refineries projects and was awaiting the outcome of the disinvestment of the HPCL and the BPCL.

However, the government had assured that these refineries projects would be implemented by the HPCL and the BPCL or through any other agency.

The committee said reports indicated that the ONGC was one of the agencies being considered for implementation of the Bathinda refinery project.

However, the ONGC Chairman had apprised the standing committee that for his company this refinery would not be an attractive proposition.

The standing committee, in its report, said “It has sought assurance that both these refineries would not be decoupled from their parent companies.”

On the issue of disinvestment of the BPCL and the HPCL, the committee said the government should seek the approval of Parliament before disinvesting the HPCL and the BPCL.

“The government’s decision to disinvest signals a departure from the declared policy..... and it cannot be made through the government’s executive decision and it required endorsement by Parliament,” the committee said.

It also asked the government to retain the HPCL and the BPCL as public sector undertakings for the country’s national security.

Stating the BPCL and the HPCL together controlled 45 per cent of the market, the committee recommended merger of the two companies and thereafter working out modalities for their merger with the ONGC.

On the government order restraining the PSUs for bidding in other PSUs, the committee said this embargo negated the concept of competition and ran counter to the essence of right to equality and the order should be immediately withdrawn.

Arguing for vertical integration of oil and gas companies, the committee observed in the globalised context of oil and gas business, the Indian situation was becoming unsustainable after dismantling of protection mechanism and administered price mechanism. There were inherent advantages in vertical integration of oil and gas companies, it added.

The committee asked the government to grant more functional autonomy to the Indian Oil Corporation to enable it to compete with global companies.