IOC to decide on bidding for BPCL after govt lays out rules: Chairman

Indian Oil Corp (IOC), the country's biggest oil firm, will decide on bidding to buy Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) after the government lists out rules for the stake sale, its Chairman Sanjiv Singh said Thursday.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs had on November 21, 2019 decided to sell government's entire 53.29 per cent stake in country's second-largest state refiner BPCL, but a tender for sale hasn't yet been issued.

"The expression of interest (EoI) (for BPCL stake sale) hasn't been issued yet. We don't know the conditions. We have no information whether PSUs are allowed to bid or not," Singh told reporters here. "I cannot comment if IOC will bid or not unless we see the conditions set out in the EoI."
"Since 2014, we have a clear vision that the government has no business to be in business," Pradhan had said on November 22, 2019. "We have examples of 2-3 sectors such as telecom and aviation where ushering in private participation has led to customers benefiting from price cuts, efficiency, and better service."