Cabinet approves BPCL stake sale
The union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today approved the sale of the government’s entire 53.29 per cent stake in oil refiner and retailer Bharat petroleum Corporation (BPCL), Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said after a cabinet meeting here. “The strategic disinvestment of BPCL, of the Government of India’s shareholding of 53.29 per cent, along with transfer of certain management control to strategic buyer is approved. The entire management control in BPCL will be transferred. However, this is excluding BPCL’s equity shareholding of 61 per cent it holds in Numaligarh Refinery Ltd,” Sitharaman said. She said a “carve out” has been made of NRL in Assam that shall not be disinvested and NRL will be moved out of BPCL before the disinvestment and acquired by another PSU. As part of the decision, 74.23 per cent of hydro power major THDC and 100 per cent in North Eastern Electric Power Coporation Limited (NEEPCO) will be sold to NTPC. “The resources unlocked by the strategic disinvestment of these CPSEs would be used to finance the social sector or developmental programmes of the Government benefiting the public. The unlocked resources would form part of the budget and the usage would come to scrutiny of the public,” an official statement said. It added that the strategic buyer or acquirer may bring in new management or technology or investment for the growth of these companies and may use innovative methods for their development. Sitharaman had said in an interview last week the government would wrap up the sale of the fuel retailer by March 2020. The government is selling its entire stake in BPCL to a strategic investor as part of a larger plan to meet its disinvestment target of Rs 1.05 trillion for this fiscal year. The statement said strategic disinvestment is guided by the basic economic principle that the government should discontinue its engagement in manufacturing of goods and services in sectors where the competitive markets have come of age, and such entities would most likely perform better in the private hands due to various factors, for example, technology up-gradation and efficient management practices; and would thus add to the GDP of the country.
Congress hits out at BPCL disinvestment decision, says government ‘selling the country’
Criticising the government over its decision on disinvestment of BPCL and other companies, the Congress on Thursday accused it of “selling the country”. The Cabinet on Wednesday approved a strategic divestment of the government’s 53.29 per cent stake in BPCL, along with transfer of certain management control. This is excluding BPCL’s equity share holding of 61 per cent stake in Numaligarh Refinery. “They did not create anything, but will sell everything. This is called selling the country. If there is Modi, it is possible,” tweeted Randeep Surjewala in Hindi.