India to offload Bharat Petroleum in state stake sell-off
Bharat Petroleum Chemical Limited
Indiahas agreed tosellstakes in fivestate-run companies, including oil refinerBharatPetroleumCorp (BPCL), finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday, a move that could help bridge a widening fiscal gap.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has also approved the sale of holdings in logistics firm Container Corp ofIndiaLtd and Shipping Corp ofIndia, Sitharaman told reporters after a cabinet meeting.
Indiahas set a target of raising 1.05 trillion rupees ($14.6 billion) through the sale ofstatestakes in companies by March 2020. It has reached 173.64 billion rupees since April byselling minoritystakes in government companies.
Watch: Indian government todivest stake in BPCL
The government owns 63.75 per centof Shipping Corp and astakeof 53.29 per centinIndia's second-biggeststaterefiner BPCL, which industry sources estimate could fetch $8 billion to $10 billion.
Sitharaman said management control of BPCL's subsidiary, Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL), in the easternIndianstateof Assam, will be given to another oil company for consolidation.
India, which has already announced a plan tosellnational carrier AirIndia, faces tax shortfalls of around 2 trillion rupees in the current fiscal year, making thestakesales critical to relieving the deficit.
Modi's government has set a fiscal deficit target of 3.3 per centof gross domestic product (GDP) for the current year, but economists and government sources say this is likely to slip to around 3.8 per cent.
New Delhi also plans tooffloadstakes in Tehri Hydro Development CorporationIndiaLtd (THDCIL) and North Eastern Electric Power Corp Ltd (NEEPCO), which the government plans to hand over tostate-run power producer NTPC.
Indiaplans to invite international energy firms to participate in the privatisation ofstate-owned oil companies, oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan said last week.
Separately, the cabinet approved the import of 1.2 million tonnes of onions to curb local price rises, as well as a two-year moratorium for telecom companies to pay their spectrum dues.