Govt gives go-ahead to biggest privatisation drive; to sell stake in BPCL, SCI, Concor to help bridge a widening fiscal gap

In the biggest privatisation drive-ever, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved sale of government’s stake in blue-chip oil firm BPCL, shipping firm SCI and onland cargo mover Concor New Delhi: In the biggest privatisation drive-ever, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved sale of government’s stake in blue-chip oil firm BPCL, shipping firm SCI and onland cargo mover Concor as well as decided to cut shareholding in select public sector firms below 51 percent to boost revenue collections that have been hit by slowing economy. #BreakingNews | FM @nsitharaman briefs the media after #Cabinet meeting, says decided to cut Govt stake in CPSEs below 51% while retaining mgmt control on a case-to-case basis#divestment #disinvestment pic.twitter.com/XBIKllsW4E — CNBC-TV18 November 20, 2019 The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the sale of government’s entire 53.29 percent stake along with transfer of management control in the country’s second-biggest state-owned refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd after taking out Numaligarh refinery from its fold, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters here. Parallelly, the Cabinet has also approved reducing government stake in select PSUs such as Indian Oil Corp to below 51 percent while continuing to retain management control. BPCL’s equity shareholding of 61.65 percent in Numaligarh Refinery Ltd and management control will be transferred to a Central Public Sector Enterprise operating in the oil and gas sector, she said.