Exclusive! BPCL disinvestment - Govt kickstarts valuation process; I Squared Capital's arm among three bidders: Sources

Government is all set to complete strategic disinvestment of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd or BPCL by the end of the current fiscal year. According to sources, in a recently held inter-ministerial group meeting, it discussed its valuation which can fetch it maximum profits. It has got three preliminary bids from Vedanta, Apollo Global and I Squared Capital's arm Think Gas to buy 52.8% stake in BPCL.

"We have got three preliminary bids from Vedanta, Apollo Global and I Squared Capital for buying stake in BPCL. We have kickstarted the valuation process. Last week, an inter-ministerial meeting was held to discuss its  valuation process. We are fully committed to complete the strategic sale by the year-end," a source who didn't wish to be quoted told Zee Business. 

BPCL operates four refineries in Mumbai (Maharashtra), Kochi (Kerala), Bina (Madhya Pradesh) and Numaligarh (Assam) with a combined capacity of 38.3 million tonnes per annum, which is 15.3 per cent of India's total refining capacity of 249.8 million tonnes. 

BPCL's unit Numaligarh refinery will remain a PSU as it will be sold to government-owned company only. The new buyer of the company will get 35.3 million tonnes of refining capacity. 

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The government  has set an ambitious disinvestment target of Rs 2.1 lakh crore for the current financial year. It is selling its entire stake of 52.98% in BPCL as part of its disinvestment process. Due to Covid 19 pandemic, it has not been able to complete  a single strategic disinvestment  so far in the current fiscal. Its disinvestment receipts so far in FY 21 are only Rs 6311.64 crore.