NEW DELHI: The Centre has put the privatisation of state-run refiner BPCL on the backburner for now while a review of the sale process of Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) will be undertaken shortly to move forward with the transaction, officials said.
Although privatisation of BPCL was identified as crucial for the Centre to meet its disinvestment target but the sale has faced several obstacles with Covid-19 proving to be a major stumbling block in finalising a deal.
The Centre had rolled over the sale of a clutch of companies into the new financial year and among the prominent ones on the list were BPCL, SCI, Concor and BEML. All these transactions are now facing delays and could hurt the government’s plan of raising Rs 65,000 crore from stake sale in the current fiscal year. So far this year, it has raised Rs 3,026 crore.
With the transition to solar energy and other renewables being fast-tracked by several countries, the appetite for BPCL has been waning. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has also emerged as a major stumbling block to proceed with the sale, once considered a centrepiece of the government’s privatisation drive. Last year, some estimates had shown that the Centre was eyeing Rs 70,000 crore from the privatisation of BPCL and Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta and two overseas funds are among the suitors for the state-owned company. The Centre owns 52.98% in the oil refiner.
