Government is selling BPCL, 3 companies including Vedanta made an initial bid
The central government is selling its entire 52.98 percent stake in BPCL, India’s second-largest oil refinery, and petroleum company. The government has received three initial bids to buy Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) stake.
Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Wednesday that for the privatization of BPCL, three companies have submitted a letter of interest i.e. Expression of Interest. He said that the companies that will be selected after scrutinizing the initial bids will be asked for financial bids in the second round.
Vedanta, working in the mining to the oil sector, has confirmed on November 18 that it has given a letter of interest (EOI) for the acquisition of a 52.98 percent stake of the government in BPCL. Two other companies bidding for BPCL include two US companies. One of them is Apollo Global Management.
Dharmendra Pradhan while addressing the program organized by Swarajya Patrika said that DIPAM has recently informed the stock market about it. However, he did not give further details of this.
Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Secretary, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), who is managing this strategic sale, ‘the deal advisor has informed that many parties have shown interest in this strategic sale’ tweeted on November 16, the last date of the bid.
Dhamendra Pradhan said that the government is planning to privatize some public sector companies. This will improve the competitiveness of these companies and make them professional. BSE listed Vedanta Ltd. And its Special Unit (SPV) formed by London-based parent company Vedanta Resources has submitted its EOI before the bid deadline ends on 16 November.
However, big oil companies such as Reliance Industries Limited, Saudi Aramco, British Petroleum, and Total have not made bids to buy a stake in BPCL. RIL did not submit its proposals till the last date of filing of interest papers on Monday. Whereas, the company was considered to be the most prominent contender.
The central government hopes that it will get a revenue of Rs 45,000 crore from the privatization of BPCL. The central government has set a target of raising 2.1 lakh crore rupees through disinvestment in the financial year 2020-21, which now seems difficult. But it is trying to get closer to this goal.
