Hinduja eyes stake in Kakinada refinery

London-based Hinduja Group said that it would be interested in holding a majority stake in its proposed joint venture for the petroleum refining project with state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation in Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh state, India. Elaborating on the group’s business plans in India, G P Hinduja, along with his brother A P Hinduja, spoke at length about the group’s interest in various sectors including healthcare, telecommunications, energy, power, media and entertainment. The group has also received the blessings of the Andhra Pradesh government to set up a 1,000-1,200 megawatt coal-based power plant in Visakhapatnam at an investment of Rs5,000 crore (US$1.3 billion). “It will be a merchant power plant, with 25% of the output committed to the state and the rest we can sell to whoever we want,” said GP Hinduja, vice- chairman of the group. (October 30, 2007)