Government extends deadline for BPCL bids to June 13 due to Covid-19 outbreak
NEW DELHI: The Centre has extended the date of bidding for divesting its 52.98 per cent share in Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) by over a month to June 13, keeping in view the lockdown imposed due to the Covid-19. It has announced the strategic disinvestment of its entire shareholding in BPCL comprising of 114.91 crore equity shares, along with transfer of management control to a strategic buyer.
Earlier this month, the government had invited expression of interest (EoI), in buying its stake, by May 2. This now has been extended to 5 pm on June 13 in “view of the requests received from the interested bidders and the prevailing situation arising out of COVID-19”, a notification said. The last date for submission of written queries has also been pushed to May 16 from the earlier deadline of April 4. The divestment had exempted Numaligarh Refinery Limited.
BPCL has a market capitalisation of about Rs 68,223 crore and the government stake at current prices is worth about Rs 36,159 crore. The successful bidder will also have to make an open offer to other shareholders for acquiring another 26 per cent at the same price. India’s fiscal deficit for the April 2019 to February 2020 period touched 135.2 per cent of the revised target of 3.8 per cent of GDP and government had so far been able to meet only 74 per cent of both tax and none tax revenue.
Check new dates
- Bidders can now submit information memorandum by May 16 instead of April 4
- Only Private companies with a net worth of more than $10 billion are eligible