Govt Scraps BPCL Privatisation Process, Mulls Selling 20-25 Per Cent Stake In Oil PSU: Report

With only one bidder left in the fray for BPCL, the Central government has reportedly scrapped the process to divest the oil PSU.

The move comes as there were three bidders for BPCL at initial stage but two of them dropped out later due to their inability to tie up funds for the acquisition.

"The government has officially withdrawn the BPCL proposal. There were three bidders initially. But effectively there was just one bidder - Vedanta. After due diligence, the other two could not tie up funding," an official was quoted in a Economic Times report as saying.

The government has nearly 53 per cent stake in BPCL, which is one of the leading oil marketing companies in India.

With the divestment process scrapped, the government is now considering a part sale of BPCL.

The government is considering inviting bids for a 20-25 per cent stake in BPCL, officials were quoted in a Reuters report as saying.

The officials, however, said that the discussions about the plan were in the early stages and that even a part sale of BPCL is unlikely to be completed this fiscal as the process would take over 12 months.