The Indian government plans to raise about Rs 1,800 crore (US$280m) from the sale of a 3% interest in Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL), the second largest state-owned oil company in India. The state owns a 54.93% interest in the company, which would remain above the strategic 51% threshold.
BPCL operates refineries in Mumbai and Kochi with a cumulated capacity of 21.5 Mt/year and owns a stake in the 6 Mt/year Bina refinery in Madhya Pradesh, in partnership with Oman Oil. The group also operates 12,809 filling stations, i.e. about 1/4 of the total network.
The Indian government is targeting Rs 69,500 crore (US$10.8bn) from the sale of stake in Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) in this fiscal year (April 2015-March 2016). It has already approved the sale of 5% interests in Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), BHEL and NTPC, as well as 10% each in Indian Oil Corp (IOC), NALCO and NMDC.