BPCL divestiture not on cards, says Central Government

15 Sep 2022 , 02:12 PM

According to Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday, the sale of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited is not an option right now.

The Centre earlier in August informed Parliament that it would decide whether to restart the BPCL strategic sale process based on an evaluation of the circumstance in due course.

The pandemic, problems with the energy transition, and geopolitical circumstances, according to state minister of finance Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad, had an impact on a number of global industries, particularly the oil and gas sector.

The government formally withdrew its offer to sell the entirety of its 52.98% interest in BPCL in May, citing the fact that the majority of prospective buyers had indicated they were unable to participate in the present privatization process owing to the state of the global energy market.

Due to difficulties like unclear fuel pricing, two out of the three bidders withdrew from the privatization process. The US venture funds Apollo Global Management Inc. and I Squared Capital Advisors, as well as the mining magnate Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta, had shown interest.

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