Govt plans to sell Bharat Petroleum Corp stake in time-bound manner

The government on Thursday decided to go ahead with the privatisation of Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) in a time-bound manner.

There were speculations that the deadline for submitting the expression of interest (EOI) might be extended further from the current date of July 31. But sources indicated that the government wanted to complete the stake sale within this financial year as things on the economic front were looking up.

An empowered group of secretaries, headed by Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, on Thursday deliberated on nearly 100 queries raised by the prospective bidders and decided to provide clarifications to them. The other members of the committee included NITI Aayog Chief Executive Amitabh Kant and Department of Investment and Public Asset Management Secretary Tuhin Kumar Pandey.

Global majors Saudi Aramco, Rosneft and Exxon Mobil have shown keenness to participate in the bidding process. Other companies that had participated in the BPCL roadshows include Shell, Chevron, and ConocoPhilps.