(LiveMint)
Divestment-bound Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd (BPCL) has created a separate platform for its liquified petroleum gas (LPG) business that runs the Union government’s subsidized domestic cooking gas cylinder scheme, two people aware of the development said, in an attempt to enable its buyer to “ring fence” and operate the marquee scheme.
According to the plan, the acquirer of the government’s entire 52.98% shareholding in BPCL will run the direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme, also known as Pratyaksha Hastaantarit Laabh (PAHAL), to deliver cooking gas subsidies to beneficiaries’ bank accounts. A separate platform and mechanism has been developed by BPCL to run the scheme.
The Centre has approved the sale of its entire stake in BPCL, along with the transfer of management control to a strategic buyer, for which the price bids will be called shortly. The successful buyer will not only have a controlling stake in BPCL but will also get access to a 25.77% market share in India’s fuel retailing segment, besides 15.3% of refining capacity.
