Passing the sell-by date

Shifting policy goalposts has been the bane of the disinvestment programme

In one of his first public statements after he took charge of the portfolio again, the new-old minister of petroleum and natural gas, Hardeep Singh Puri, categorically stated that plans to sell oil marketing major Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd or BPCL are “completely off the table”. He explained that BPCL is a highly successful Maharatna, the term that refers to state-owned companies with a high degree of autonomy, so the government sees no need to sell its 52.98 per cent stake.

This is a notable shift in approach. Plans for BPCL’s strategic disinvestment were announced in 2021 as part of the