Three entities have submitted EoIs for BPCL bidding: Pradhan
Vedanta, two global funds have submitted their bids to buy stake in the fuel retailer
The government has received three preliminary bids for buying of controlling stake in India’s second- largest fuel retailer Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd (BPCL), oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Wednesday.
Vedanta had on November 18 confirmed putting in an expression of interest (EoI) for buying the government’s 52.98% stake in BPCL. The other two bidders are said to be global funds, one of them being Apollo Global Management.
“Lot of interest is there,” Pradhan said at a webinar series on ‘The Road To Atmanirbhar Bharat’ organised by Swarajya Magazine. “DIPAM has recently informed market... I think three parties have given EoI for the bidding process.” He did not give details.
Tuhin Kanta Pandey, secretary, department of investment and public asset management (Dipam), which is handling the strategic sale, had tweeted on November 16—the last date for bidding—that the transaction advisors (TA) for the sale have reported receiving “multiple expressions of interest.” “The transaction will move to the second stage after scrutiny by TA,” he had said. Pradhan said the government is looking to privatize some of the state-owned companies to bring in professionalism and competition.
“As I have earlier said the government is committed to offloading its share from some stateowned companies. That way more professionalism and competition will come. We are committed and keen on that aspect,” he said.
The government is selling its entire 52.98% stake in BPCL as part of plans to raise a record ₹2.1 lakh crore from disinvestment proceeds in 2020-21 (April 2020 to March 2021).
But share price of BPCL has plunged by nearly a fourth since the time the strategic sale was approved in November last year.
At Wednesday’s trading price of ₹385 on BSE, the government’s 52.98% stake in BPCL is worth just over ₹44,200 crore. Also, the acquirer would have to make an open offer for buying another 26% stake from the public, which would cost about ₹21,600 crore.
In a separate development, Pradhan said that India wants to diversify its oil imports, including the resumption of supplies from Iran and Venezuela, after US President-elect Joe Biden takes office.
India was the key buyer of Iranian and Venezuelan oil before slashing purchases after President Donald Trump imposed unilateral sanctions on the two Opec-members since taking office in 2017.
“As a buyer I would like to have more buying places. I should have more destinations to go for purchasing (oil),” Pradhan said.
Sanctions on from Iran and Venezuela have blocked up to 3 million barrels per day (bpd), or 3% of world supply.