The Petroleum & Natural Gas Ministry (P&NG Ministry) is opposed to monetisation of core assets proposed by government think tank NITI Aayog, sources told CNBC-TV18 on June 23.
The ministry has instead identified non-core assets worth Rs 17,500 crore for monetisation from public sector undertakings (PSUs) such as GAIL, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), they added.
Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.
The channel further reported that the ministry told NITI Aayog that monetising core assets which are integral to the oil marketing companies (OMCs) and for operation of GAIL is “not practical”.
Of the Rs 17,500 crore non-core assets identified as alternative, Rs 10,000 crore worth assets are of IOC, Rs 5,000 crore are of GAIL and Rs 2,500 crore are of HPCL, it added.
Notably, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had in her Union Budget 2021 speech on February 1 announced that oil and gas pipelines of GAIL, HPCL and IOC would be monetised to meet the Centre’s disinvestment target for the year.
Earlier on June 20, commerce and industry ministry floated a draft cabinet note seeking inter-ministerial views on a proposal to allow up to 100 percent foreign investment under automatic route in oil and gas PSUs, which have an "in-principle" approval for disinvestment, sources said.
The move, if approved by the union cabinet, would facilitate privatisation of Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), India's second biggest oil refiner.
The government is privatising BPCL and is selling its entire 52.98 per cent stake in the company. Sources said that as per the draft note, a new clause would be added in the FDI policy under the petroleum and natural gas sector.
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