The divestment of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited is not on the table as of now, said Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday.
The Centre earlier in August told Parliament that it will decide on re-initiating the process of BPCL strategic sale based on a review of the situation in due course.
Minister of state for finance Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad said the pandemic, energy transition issues and geo-political conditions affected several industries globally, particularly the oil and gas industry.
“A majority of Qualified Interested Parties have expressed inability to continue in the current process of disinvestment of BPCL,” Karad said.
The government in May formally withdrew its offer to sell its entire 52.98% stake in BPCL, saying majority of bidders have expressed their inability to participate in the current privatisation process due to prevailing conditions in the global energy market.
The privatisation was stalled after two out of three bidders walked out over issues like lack of clarity in fuel pricing. Mining mogul Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta, US venture funds Apollo Global Management Inc and I Squared Capital Advisors had expressed interest.
