After Air India, Centre reveals plans for BPCL disinvestment and LIC IPO in FY2022

After concluding the process of disinvestment of Air India, the government plans for the divestment of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) in the current financial year. The government will also come up with Initial Public Offerings (IPO) of Life Insurance Company (LIC) during the final quarter of this financial year.

Secretary of Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) Tuhin Kant Pandey said,

"LIC IPO will be a very major event. We are preparing hard for it and hopefully, it will be a major event. We are preparing hard for it and hopefully, we will be able to bring it out in the last quarter of the year." 

Pandey also said that the government is expecting disinvestment of BPCL in the fourth quarter of the financial year as well.

Govt received financial bid for divestment of CEL

The DIPAM Secretary said,

"Due diligence process of BPCL is on. It is a very large company. So a lot of work is going on in the due diligence there, and we hope to conclude it as well."

Pandey said that DIPAM has received financial bids for strategic divestment of Central Electronics Ltd (CEL), which ccould be the next company to be disinvested.

"We have got the financial bid and the process now moves to the concluding stage. We do not know yet what are the offers or whether the offers would be good enough for us to disinvest. It is still sealed in the envelope. But yes, the process has reached the stage of disinvestment," the DIPAM Secretary said.

Highlighting the disinvestment target of the Centre, Pandey said,

"We have a number of transactions that are ongoing, Strategic disinvestment has basically two parts. One of the first stages is in which we invite the expression of interest and qualify people based on certain criteria, which are specified in the Expression of Interest."

"And after that the qualified bidders do in detail the due diligence on the companies through, you know, looking at the contracts in greater detail, looking at their assets, and also the share purchase agreement which is given to them. Then the conditions are specified and final conditions are agreed upon, and thereupon everyone gets to see."

DIPAM confident in achieving Centre's disinvestment target 

The DIPAM secretary expressed his confidence in achieving the disinvestment target set by the Centre for the 2021-22 fiscal, which stands at Rs 1.75 lakh crore.

"Our effort is to just carry in with the work and try to use the opportunities, whatever happens, a lot depends upon the bidders. A lot depends upon the way they complete due diligence, There was an impact on us due to the second wave. We lost. You know, first quarter to leave. But now that things are back on track, we are confident that things will move forward. How much we will be able to do, only time will tell, but we are moving towards the closing of several transactions."

Inputs: ANI

Image: PTI