Government has withdrawn BPCL divestment offer, will come back with a revised plan: Anil Agarwal

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The government has decided not to go ahead with the privatisation plan of state-run Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and has told its suitors that it will revise the plan and come to market, according to Anil Agarwal, chairman of Vedanta Resources.

The Indian government had ambitious plans to sell its entire 53 percent stake in BPCL to private players in 2021-22, but after delays, this target was shifted to 2022-23. Potential buyers who showed interest included Vedanta Group, Apollo Global Management, and private equity major I Squared Capital-backed Think Gas.

In an exclusive interview with Moneycontrol, when asked about the status of BPCL divestment, Agarwal said, “It will not happen. They've said that they have withdrawn the offer, they will come back with a new strategy.”

“Generally, they have given a statement, they're not going ahead. Not in this format,” Agarwal said.

Mixed signals on BPCL divestment left investors and the industry baffled about what to expect. As recently as March-end, Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad told the Rajya Sabha that the divestment process was in a second stage and had received "multiple" expressions of interest but there were media reports citing senior bureaucrats that said that the divestment had slowed down as investors were keener on green projects.

The government is yet to officially make a statement on whether the plan has been shelved in its current form.

Would Vedanta be interested in bidding for BPCL if the government comes back with a revised offer? Agarwal said, “No point discussing it right now. When they come to market, we will see.”

BPCL's divestment plan did not generate the interest that the government was hoping for. In February, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri had said that the government "hopes to replicate the success of Air India divestment in the BPCL divestment."

The Air India divestment was also marred by delays. On January 27, the Tata Group completed the takeover of Air India, along with Air India Express and a stake in AI-SATS. The government had invited bids for a 100 percent stake in the national carrier in March 2020 and the Tata Group emerged as the winner in the bids in October 2021.

“Privatisation process takes too long, corporatisation would work faster. Government should just sell shares in the share market and reduce their holding to zero,” Vedanta Resources Chairman said.

Agarwal cautioned that India needs to prioritise its energy security and encourage private sector participation to boost domestic production. The corporatisation of public sector companies will also help scale up production.

“Government companies put together have a market cap of $200 billion today, why can’t they corporatise? Why can’t the government sell the share to Indian mutual funds, private equity, and HNIs (high net worth individuals)? They are very strong and board-driven companies. Government has to be completely out of that business. We can give equity to employees, and nobody would be retrenched. If we do this, the $200 billion market cap can go up to $600 billion,” Agarwal added.