Nod to sale of govt’s 100% stake in BPCL

NEWDELHI:THE Cabinet Committee on Economic Aff airs on Wednesday gave in-principle approval to strategic disinvestment in five state-run companies, including a sale of the government’s entire stake in Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) ,while retaining its ownership of Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL) through another public sector company.

The Cabinet decided on the divestment of the government’s entire 53.29% shareholding in the oil refiner and fuel retailers, along with transfer of management control to a strategic buyer, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said. That would exclude its 61.65% stake in NRL, located in Assam. “NRL is carved out [of BPCL] and it will remain with a PSU [public sector undertaking],” Sitharaman said. Management control of NRL will also be transferred to a central public sector enterprise (CPSE) operating in the oil and gas sector.

The four other companies in which the Cabinet approved strategic stake sales were Shipping Corporation of India Ltd (SCI), Container Corporation of India Ltd (CONCOR) , Tehri Hydro Development Corporation India Ltd (THDCI) and North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Ltd (NEEPCO), Sitharaman said after a Cabinet meeting chaired by PM Narendra Modi. The Cabinet decided to divest the government’s shareholding of 63.75% in SCI along with transfer of management control to a strategic buyer, she said.

In the case of CONCOR, the government will divest a 30.8% stake, along with transfer of management control.

It has also decided to divest its stakes in THDCIL (74.23%) and NEEPCO (100%) along with management control to state-run energy company NTPC Ltd, she said.