oppn parties Centre Scraps BPCL Sell-Off For Now

News Snippets

  • India will fast-track deployment of 52 defence surveillance satellites
  • In a first, Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai helps patients draw up living will
  • Calcutta HC says that an arrest warrant cannot be issued against an accused who is on anticipatory bail, and if that person is arrested, he or she must be released as per the conditions of the anticipatory bail
  • Monsoon covers entire India 9 days ahead of schedule
  • Maharashtra government scraps order making Hindi the 3rd language in state schools after protests by civil society and opposition
  • A government report says that 64.3% of the population is now under the social security net, up from only 22% in 2016
  • The finance ministry has asked PSB to look at ways to monetise their investment in subsidiaries, by listing them on the stock exchanges
  • After auditor flags overlimit expenses, Karnataka Bank MD & CEO S Hari Hara Sarma and ED Sekhar Rao resign
  • Rosneft likely to sell its stake in Nayara Energy to RIL
  • Ola junks commission-based income model, opts for a daily flat fee from drivers with the hope of attracting more drivers to its platform
  • Torrent Pharma will acquire a controlling stake in JB Chem for Rs 18000cr by buying 46.4% from US fund KKR and another 26% from the public by making an open offer
  • Speculation persists over Jasprit Bumrah making the playing 11 in the second Test against England starting July 2
  • FIH Pro hockey: Indian women slump to their 8th successive loss as they lose to China 2-3
  • US Open BWF Super 300 badminaton: Ayush Shetty wins his first BWF world title by beating Canadian Brian Young 21-18,21-13 but Tanvi Sharma lost in the finals to Beiwwwan Zhang 11-21, 21-16, 10-21
  • R Praggananda wins Tashkent meet, become number 1 chess player in India with FIDE rating of 2799
The SIT formed to probe law college gang-rape in Kolkata has collected the hockey stick used to hit the victim and other rape evidence from the coolege campus /////// Rath Yatra stampede in Puri kills 3
oppn parties
Centre Scraps BPCL Sell-Off For Now

By A Special Correspondent
First publised on 2022-05-27 07:12:51

Finally, the government has scrapped the sale of its 53% holding in state-run oil refining and marketing firm Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL). The sell-off in BPCL was dogged by many factors ever since the government invited global EOI in 2020. The world was facing disruption due to the pandemic and although oil was hot property once restrictions were lifted and things slowly returned to normal, there were few takers even though the government was off-loading its entire stake. But when nothing of substance came up even after the government was forced to extend the deadline for EOI multiple times, it was decided to keep the divestment on the backburner. Now, it has been completely scrapped.

The prevailing geopolitical situation - with the war in Ukraine showing no signs of ending and all things pointing to the fact that the Russians are digging in their heels to remain in Ukraine for longer than it was earlier expected - has also made the government change its mind. The official position, as stated by DIPAM, was that "the multiple Covid-19 waves and geo-political conditions affected multiple industries globally, particularly the oil and gas industry. Owing to prevailing conditions in the global energy market, the majority of qualified interested parties (QIPs) have expressed their inability to continue in the current process of disinvestment of BPCL". Hence, the statement said, the present process was being called off and all EOIs from QIPs stood cancelled. It also said that decision on re-initiation of the process will be taken in due course based on review of the situation.

With this, the curtains have come down on the disinvestment process of what was once considered the centrepiece of the privatization drive of the government of India. The government was left with no alternative as the expression of interest was very low considering the asset on sale and even those who had qualified were no longer willing to participate further. In a way, what has happened is good as at this point of time, BPCL would not have fetched it true underlying value. Maybe later, when things are better globally, the government will get the best price for it.