Bringing BPCL sale back on the table

Retail oil price reform through direct subsidy transfers should be considered

About a fortnight ago, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that the proposed privatisation of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, or BPCL, was off the table. “We want to disinvest, but we cannot have a situation where there is only one bidder…For now, it is not on the table”, Mr Puri said on the sidelines of the 25th Energy Technology Meet in Mumbai. Endorsing such a stance, the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management also was reported to have stated that “owing to prevailing conditions in the global energy market, the majority of qualified interested parties have