BPCL will be exiting the ownership of Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL) by selling its 61.65% stake to a consortium of Oil India Ltd and Engineers India Ltd.
This move comes in tandem with the Government’s major disinvestment plans through which it seeks to exit unprofitable and slower companies.
In a statement the director said that, “The consortium of Oil and Engineers India Ltd will acquire 49% and the rest 13.65% will be sold to the government of Assam. It is selling stake because the government had as per the Assam Peace Accord, agreed to keep NRL in the public sector.”
This decision was made during the company board meeting on Monday when the share purchase agreement was approved.
With the sale of its entire 52.98% stake in BPCL, this disinvest will be the nation’s biggest privatization till date. The value of 61.65% stake in Numaligharh Refinery is reportedly around INR 7,000 crore.
The Government expects to complete the privatization of BPCL by the first half of FY2021-22. This particular sale, being the largest yet, is going to be very important to achieve the INR 1.75 lakh crore disinvestment target set for 2021-22.
