BPCL to pay special dividend post NRL deal

NEW DELHI:  Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) will use part of the proceeds from the `9,876 crore stake sale in Numaligarh Refinery to pay a special dividend to its shareholders—the largest of which is the Government of India. The GoI currently holds 52.98 per cent in BPCL, though it has approved the privatisation of the state-run oil marketing firm. 

On Monday, the company’s Board of Directors approved the sale of its 61.65 per cent stake in Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL) to a consortium led by state-owned Oil India, consultancy firm Engineers India Ltd (EIL) and the Government of Assam. The move clears the way for the  privatisation of BPCL, since the government is expected to keep NRL as a public-sector enterprise according to the Assam Accords.

Now that a consortium of state-run firms have taken over BPCL’s stake in NRL, the government may proceed with selling BPCL. According to the company’s director (finance) N Vijayagopal, who spoke to reporters on Tuesday, BPCL will use the `9,876 crore from the NRL sale to fund the buyout of Oman Oil’s stake in the Bina refinery, pay capital gains tax, and also pay a dividend to shareholders. 

“Definitely, a portion will go to the shareholders as dividend… we have a healthy tradition of rewarding shareholders,” said Vijayagopal. The privatisation plan chalked out by the Centre for BPCL involves the oil marketing PSU selling its assets in NRL while simultaneously picking up Oman Oil’s 36.62 per cent stake in Bina.