Government shelves BPCL privatisation for now as bidders exit

NEW DELHI: India has stalled the privatisation of state-owned refiner Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limiter (BPCL) as most bidders walked out of the process, according to an official with direct knowledge of the matter.
There was only one potential buyer left in the fray for purchasing the government’s 53% holding in the company.
India didn’t want to proceed with a single bidder, the official told reporters on Wednesday. The government will rework the sale but won’t sell a smaller stake, the official said.
The planned sale, which could have potentially been the country’s biggest privatisation, had attracted interest from three suitors — the Vedanta group, Apollo Global Management and I Squared Capital Advisors.