Govt invites bids for BPCL, Concor strategic sale

New Delhi (IANS) Pacing up the disinvestment calendar to meet a daunting target by March 31, DIPAM on Friday issued 15 Request For Proposals, including those for strategic disinvestment of BPCL, and also for partial divestment of government's equity in railways' arm Concor. The move also paves the way for bids from oil and gas PSUs for Numaligarh Refinery.

The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management has a target of Rs 1.05 lakh crore of divestment proceeds by March 31. SO far, during the current financial year 2019-20 so far Rs 17,364.26 crore has been obtained through disinvestment transactions.

The DIPAM has also alongside invited bids for strategic disinvestment of BPCL's shareholdings of 61.65 % in NRL along with the transfer of management control to a CPSE operating in oil and gas sector.

Numaligarh Refinery will be carved out of BPCL before strategic sale of Bharat Petroleum. OIl sector PSUs such as Indian Oil Corporation and Oil India Ltd may be interested in picking up the Assam based refinery.

This week the government kicked off a mega disinvestment plan, lining up the sale of five public sector units (PSUs), including majority stakes in bluechip oil company Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Shipping Corporation of India. Also on sale will be a 31% stake in Container Corporation of India (Concor) along with management control.

If all these take place, then based on current market prices, the sale of stakes in these three firms will fetch the Modi government about Rs Rs 80,000 crore, taking it close to the disinvestment target for the fiscal year.

Request for Proposal is invited for strategic disinvestment of fovernment of India shareholding of 53.29% in BPCL except its equity shareholding of 61.65% in Numaligarh Refinery Lrd and management control there on along with transfer of management control to a strategic buyer.

The RFP has also been issued for partial disinvestment of government of India's equity shareholding in Concor from 54.8% to 30.8% along with transfer of management control to a strategic buyer.

For Shipping Corporation of India, RFP is being issued for appointment of Asset Valuer, Transaction Advisor and Legal Advisor for the strategic disinvestment of government of India's stake in SCI.

Similarly, advisors and asset valuers are being invited for NTPC's acquisition of NEEPCO (North Eastern Electric Power Corporation) and THDC.