A consortium led by Oil India Limited and Engineers India Limited has reportedly planned to proceed with the acquisition of 48 per cent shares in Numaligarh Refinery Limited, a subsidiary of BPCL.

According to Harish Madhav, the Director of Finance at Oil India, the government has been imperative in taking the key decision for the acquisition of the BPCL stake by Oil India Limited and Engineers India Limited. He has further stated that the company has already presented its expression of interest to the government. However, as NRL’s stake sale is solely connected to the government’s stake sale in BPCL, both the procedures will apparently take place simultaneously, stated Madhav.

As per sources, the state-owned refiner BPCL holds 61.65 per cent shares in NRL with Oil India’s shares comprising 26 per cent, and the government of Assam holding 12.35 per cent of the shares. The acquisition involves a transaction cost of over 5,500 crores, as reported. Further, the separation of NRL from BPCL is seen as part of the government’s strategy to divest the stake in BPCL. Oil India’s board has, however, not yet decided on its investment share in NRL.

Dharmendra Pradhan, the Oil Minister, has stated that the ministry is firm over its decision to privatize BPCL witnessing the slide in global energy prices. He has further stated that the Finance Minister and DIPAM will jointly make a decision on the sale’s timing taking the market scenario into consideration and the primary decision of BPCL’s privatization prevails.

The government has reportedly invited initial bids announcing the sale of its entire 52.98 per cent stake in BPCL. Several investors and companies including Rosneft, Total SA, Saudi Aramco, Kuwait Petroleum, and Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., have expressed interest for taking part in BPCL’s divestment. The government cites this privatization as the key to meeting its disinvestment target of 2.1 lakh crores as highlighted in the Union budget for 2020-21.

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