The merger of state-owned oil firms could create synergy and boost efficiency, and the idea is worth deliberating, said petroleum and natural gas minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

The idea was proposed by the country’s largest oil and gas exploration company, ONGC, with a view to create a mammoth firm which would bring upstream, downstream, transmission and engineering businesses under one umbrella. The idea is in its initial stages and any formal consultation between the companies is yet to begin, but the ministry is ‘willing’ to deliberate on the proposal, according to a report published by the Financial Express.

“Both ONGC and OIL are taking a hit on profits. The issue had recently been flagged by a director of one of the PSUs that it was in the interest of the E&P firms to get merged with the oil marketing companies. There is nothing wrong in discussing the issue within the ministry,” Pradhan said in Kolkata, according to the report.

He further said that the ministry would not interfere and it is for the companies to decide if they want to merge into one giant entity.