(LiveMint)
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) has not yet received any official communication from the government on its plan to sell its 53.3% stake in public sector oil marketing company, N Vijayagopal, director (finance) said on Friday. “The decision to privatise has to be taken at the level of the Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs and, as far as I know, that is yet to happen,” Vijayagopal told reporters here. “The company has not changed any business decisions in anticipation of the stake sale. If the government decides to sell its stake, we (management of BPCL) will be part of the process.”
On 20 October, Mint reported that Saudi Aramco, Rosneft, Kuwait Petroleum, ExxonMobil, Shell, Total SA and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company have had conversations with the government on bidding for the latter’s stake in BPCL. A core group of secretaries on divestment approved the privatization of BPCL on September 30, while the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management is in the process of appointing a transaction advisor, legal advisor and an asset valuer.
