ONGC chairman-cum-managing director Bikash C Bora told PTI that the corporation "in-principle" was not in favour of diluting its 12.5 per cent equity in the pipeline company where the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) are the other partners.

The exploration company ONGC and the refining companies IOC, BPCL and GAIL hold together fifty per cent equity in the state-run Petronet with an equal share of 12.5 per cent. Rest 50 per cent equity is to be held by the financial institutions and public.

Petronet had proposed bringing in the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) as a fresh partner considering its need for using gas as feedstock for running power plants.

The proposal was that each of the four oil companies dilute their equity by 2.5 per cent to allow NTPCpickup a ten per cent stake in the company as the fifth partner.

Bora, however, said he would discuss the matter with IOC, BPCL and GAIL before taking a final decision. "Whatever decision the Petronet partners take will be a collective one," he said.

NTPC CMD Rajendra Singh confirmed the corporation had received the proposal from Petronet LNG and it was yet to decide on how to pickup the stake. "We are yet to decide on this. We are working out the pros and cons of NTPC picking up equity in Petronet LNG," Singh said.