BPCL sets up platform for subsidised LPG

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.