India calls off plan to privatise Bharat Petroleum

The Indian government has called off plans for now to privatise state-controlled refiner Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) after multiple delays arising from a lack of interest from investors.

The government "has decided to call off the present EoI [expression of interest] process for strategic disinvestment of BPCL and the EoIs received from QIPs [qualified interested parties] shall stand cancelled," the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (Dipam) said on 26 May.

Most QIPs have expressed their inability to continue with the divestment process because of current conditions in the global energy market, Dipam said, citing multiple Covid-19 infection waves and geopolitical tensions as examples.

Delhi froze its plan to sell its entire 53pc stake in BPCL earlier in the year after repeated delays since the process started in 2019. It has since received just three bids, from domestic resources firm Vedanta and two US investment funds.

But the government left open the possibility of restarting the process. "[A] decision on the reinitiation of the strategic disinvestment process of BPCL will be taken in due course based on [a] review of [the] situation," Dipam said.

By Reena Nathan