Govt hopeful of completing BPCL stake sale in FY21 H1

The disinvestment department is hopeful of completing the sale of government stake in state refiner BPCL by the first half of next fiscal and is working towards that timeline where prospective bidders would be given enough time for due diligence.

Officials say as of now there is no major hindrance to that timeline and once the 'Alternative Mechanism' comprising Cabinet ministers from Finance, Road Transport and the administrative ministry under which the PSU comes (oil ministry) approves it, the Performance Information Memorandum and Expression of Interest will be out.

As of now the Cabinet approval is only for keeping Assam-based Numaligarh Refinery Ltd out of the divestment. For other JVs of BPCL, it is understood that BPCL's stake in those JVs and subsidiairies will be taken up by the private company which acquires the government stake, said sources adding if other JVs were to be kept out of privatisation, then oil ministry would vet them earlier before going to the Cabinet for approval for stake sale.

The government plans to sell its entire 52.98 per cent stake in Bharat Petroleum Corporation to a private investor. As an indication with BPCL's share price range, the government expects to get about Rs 60,000 crore from selling its stake in the refiner. The target for disinvestment in FY21 is Rs 2.1 lakh crore.