Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday that disinvestment of Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) has moved to the next stage, with the government getting multiple expressions of interest (EoI) for the public sector oil refiner-cum-retailer.
Monday was the last date for submission of EoI. “Strategic disinvestment of BPCL progresses: Now moves to the second stage after multiple expressions of interest have been received,” Sitharaman tweeted.
In another tweet, DIPAM (Department of Investment and Public Asset Management) Secretary Tuhin K Pandey said: “For strategic disinvestment of BPCL, multiple expressions of interest have been received by the Transaction Advisor. The Transaction will move to the second stage after scrutiny by TA.”
However, the government did not disclose how many bids have been received or who the bidders are. But reports are that more than three companies have shown interest.
But Reliance Industries made it clear on Monday that it has not bid.
The government intends to sell its entire stake of 52.98 per cent, or over 114.91 crore shares, in BPCL, but will not include BPCL’s 61.65 per cent stake in Numaligarh Refinery Limited. Accordingly, a Preliminary Information Memorandum (PIM) for inviting EoIs was issued on March 7, and May 2 was set as the date for submission of bid, but later extended to June 13, July 31, September 30 and finally to November 16.
According to PIM, BPCL is second largest oil marketing company in India with a market share of 21 per cent in financial year 2018-19.