(HT)
The government has signalled to at least two of its blue chip firms — Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) — to be ready to participate in the strategic disinvestment of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), two officials aware of the developments said.
In the 2019-20 financial year, the government, which has been facing a slowdown in growth for six straight quarters, has so far mopped up just ₹17,364.26 crore through disinvestment. In the July 2019 budget, the Centre set a disinvestment target of ₹1.05 lakh crore.
The participation of IOC and ONGC would be a contingency measure in case of a muted response from prospective private bidders, said the officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity. BPCL’s strategic disinvestment by March 31 is crucial to the government achieving its target, they said.Strategic disinvestment implies substantial sale of government shareholding in a public sector company along with the transfer of management control.
