Govt plans to sell 3% stake in BPCL to raise Rs 1,800 cr

At current trading price of Rs 820, the stake sale will fetch the government over Rs 1,778 crore

The government plans to sell three per cent stake in Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL), the nation’s second largest state oil firm, this financial year to raise around Rs 1,800 crore.

Finance ministry has moved a Cabinet note for inter-ministerial consultations for selling 2.16 crore shares in BPCL through a public offer, official sources said.

At current trading price of Rs 820, the stake sale will fetch the government around Rs 1,778 crore. The government holds 54.93 per cent stake in BPCL.

Divesting three per cent interest will help government keep its shareholding well above 51 per cent — the minimum strategic holding it has decided to keep in key public sector unit.

BPCL operates refineries at Mumbai and Kochi with a combined capacity of 21.5 million tonnes. It also has a six million tonnes a year-unit at Bina in Madhya Pradesh, in joint venture with Oman Oil.

It has 12,809 petrol pumps, which is about one-fourth of the total petrol pumps in the country.

When contacted, BPCL Chairman and Managing Director S Varadarajan said the company has "heard from the government on a possible stake sale."

"They (government) were planning this even three years back. It is up to them to decide on divestments and we have sent our general views," he said.

The government is targeting Rs 69,500 crore from stake sale in PSUs this fiscal. Of this, Rs 41,000 crore is to come from minority share sale in PSUs and Rs 28,500 crore from strategic stake sale.

Although the Department of Disinvestment (DOD), under the Finance Ministry, has got approval from Cabinet for selling minority stakes worth about Rs 50,000 crore in a host of PSUs, it has only been able to divest stake in one company -- REC -- so far this fiscal.

The Cabinet has approved sale of 5 per cent stakes in Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), BHEL and NTPC as well as 10 per cent each in Indian Oil Corp (IOC), NALCO and NMDC.

As per the Public Enterprise Survey 2013-14, India has 234 Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSE) of which 46 are listed.