All options on the disinvestment of oil majors Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) were open and no option had been ruled out, sources close to defence minister George Fernandes said here today.
The defence minister left for Oman on an official visit soon after a Cabinet Committee on Security meeting on Saturday. Before leaving, he held a meeting with some party office-bearers, where he indicated he did not want the issue of the oil sector disinvestment to drag on because the advantage of that would accrue to the Opposition. However, no option had been considered and therefore nothing had been ruled out, he told partymen.
No decision was likely till the third week of October, party sources said. Meanwhile, top government officials told Business Standard that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani had read newsreports of a