The Indian government will no longer extend the deadline to submit preliminary expressions of interest (EoI) for the privatisation of state refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL), according to Tuhin Kanta Pandey, the secretary of the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM). The deadline extensions were given based on requests from interested bidders.
These companies asked for extensions as the COVID-19 pandemic hurt their financials. Previously, the deadline had been extended four times from the initial date of May 2. The current deadline to submit bids for the government’s entire 52.98% in BPCL is November 16.
New Delhi is keen to complete the privatisation before March 31, 2021. The divestment will help meet a record INR2.1 lakh crore ($28.6 billion) target set by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Global oil majors, such as Aramco and Rosneft, have indicated an interest in BPCL stake sale. However, interests may have waned amid a downturn in the energy industry amid the pandemic and transition toward low-carbon energy sources.
