Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday said the government has received three preliminary bids in the privatization process of state-owned Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd (BPCL).
Speaking at a webinar organized by Swarajya magazine, he said there was a lot of interest. “I think three parties have given their expression of interest for the bidding process,” Pradhan said. “As I have earlier said, the government is committed to offload its share from some of the state-owned companies. That way, more professionalism, more competition will come and we are committed and keen on that aspect.”
He said India is currently using only 6% of the world’s primary energy and the country’s per capita energy consumption is only one-third of the global average. He added that this is rapidly changing and India will drive global energy demand growth, given that the country’s energy consumption is projected to grow at 3% annually up to 2040.
India is currently the world’s third-largest oil importer and the fourth-largest buyer of liquefied natural gas.
The Centre had earlier said it has received expressions of interest (EoIs) from “several” domestic and international investors for BPCL.
Vedanta Group has confirmed submitting its EoI. The Economic Times newspaper on 24 November reported about Apollo Global Management also submitting an EoI.
The government had extended the deadline for preliminary EoI in BPCL four times this year due to the coronavirus pandemic that originated in Wuhan, China.
BPCL’s business interests span across upstream, midstream and natural gas sectors. The other shareholders in India’s third-largest refiner apart from the government are foreign portfolio investors, Life Insurance Corporation, mutual funds and BPCL Trust.
Qualifying bidders in the first EoI phase will be asked to make a financial bid in the second round. PSUs are not eligible to participate.
The sale of a 53% stake in India’s second-largest fuel retailer is expected to fetch the Centre around ₹45,000 crore and is essential for meeting the record ₹2.1 trillion target the finance minister has set from disinvestment proceeds in the budget for 2020-21.
India has so far managed around ₹6,100 crore in disinvestment proceeds.
The qualifying bidder will not only have a controlling stake in BPCL but will also get access to 25.77% market share in India’s fuel retailing segment, along with 15.3% of India’s total refining capacity.
BPCL operates four refineries in Mumbai, Kochi, Bina and Numaligarh, with a combined capacity of 38.3 million tonnes per annum (mtpa).
