Cabinet approves stake sale in BPCL, four other PSUs
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the sale of the government’s stake in five blue-chip public sector companies, including Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) and Container Corporation of India along with its management control to strategic buyers.
The move comes in the wake of a tardy sale of PSUs so far this year, which has fetched the exchequer only a little above Rs 17,000 crore as against the asset sale target of Rs 1.05 lakh crore in 2019-20.
The government will sell 53.29% of its stake in BPCL. However, the Numaligarh Refinery in Assam in which BPCL, Indian Oil and Assam government have their shares, will not be divested.
“Numaligarh would be carved out of BPCL before divestment,” Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said. BPCL has 61% stake in Numaligarh refinery.
