This BPCL unit will remain a PSU despite privatisation: Here’s why Numaligarh Refinery won’t be sold

Even as the government announced strategic divestment of the entire stake in Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), Numaligarh Refinery, in which BPCL holds a majority stake, has been kept out of the plan. In fact, the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the refinery in Assam will be carved out of BPCL and will continue to remain a PSU. It was done due to the historic Assam Accord of 1985 signed between All India Assam Students Union (AISU) and the central government of the time after the 6-year long agitation against the immigrants. On Thursday, Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, also said that Numaligarh Refinery is out of the BPCL divestment plan due to the existing accord.