Three parties submitted IE for the BPCL tender process: Dharmendra Pradhan

In a webinar organized by Swarajya magazine, Pradhan said that there was a lot of interest in BPCL and that the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) had recently informed the stock market about it.

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“I think three parties have expressed interest in the bidding process,” Pradhan said, adding: “As I said earlier, the government is committed to offloading its participation from some of the state-owned companies. That way, more professionalism, more will come. competition and we are committed and enthusiastic about that. “

The Center had previously said that it had received expressions of interest (EoI) from “various” national and international investors for the sale of the BPCL stake. Vedanta Group and two US funds have reportedly submitted their EOIs. In the wake of the pandemic, the government had extended the deadline for preliminary EoI in BPCL four times this year.

Qualifying bidders in the first phase of Edi will be asked to submit a financial offer in the second round. Public sector companies cannot participate in privatization.

The sale of a 53% stake in India’s second largest fuel retailer is expected to draw the Center around ₹45,000 crore and is essential to reach the record ₹The 2.1 trillion target that the finance minister has set from divestment income in the 2020-21 budget. So far, India has managed around Rs 6.1 billion in divestment income.

“The divestment agenda continues. “We will go with greater momentum to get the privatization, which has been approved by the cabinet, go ahead,” Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at a conference organized by the lobby group of the Confederation of Indian Industry also the month.

The qualified bidder will not only have a controlling stake in BPCL, but will also have access to a 25.77% market share in the Indian fuel retail segment, along with 15.3% of the total refining capacity. from India. BPCL operates four refineries in Mumbai, Kochi, Bina and Numaligarh in Assam, with a combined capacity of 38.3 million tons per year.

India is the third largest buyer of crude oil in the world and a key refining center in Asia, with an installed capacity of more than 249.36 million tons per year (mtpa) through 23 refineries. Large Indian refineries include IOC, Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd., Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd., Nayara Energy Ltd (formerly Essar Oil), and Reliance Industries Ltd. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that India plans to increase its refining capacity to around 250 million tons. per year (mtpa) to 400 mtpa by 2025.