'BPCL privatisation not on cards for now'

Mumbai: Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday indicated that the much-delayed privatisation of oil major BPCL may not happen in the near future, saying there is "no proposal whatsoever" on his table for now.

As part of its asset monetisation plan, the government had in November 2019 put Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) on the block and said it would completely sell its 52.98 per cent stake in the country's second largest state-run oil refiner and

marketer.

Though it had received three tentative bids, it got only one financial bid from Vedanta group, forcing it in May 2022 to shelve the plan pending a "comprehensive review".

"How can a sale process under competitive bidding go ahead when there is only one bidder?", the minister quipped when asked whether his ministry pursuing BPCL divestment again.

"You know it's not the administrative ministry alone that carries out divestment plans now, but the DIPAM (Department of Investment and Public Asset Management) does it. But as far as I being the line minister is concerned, there is no proposal whatsoever on the BPCL sale as of now on my table," Puri told reporters here.