India will allow global energy companies to bid during the strategic disinvestment of state-run oil companies, oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan has said. He added that the proposed partnership with Saudi Aramco and Abu Dhabi’s ADNOC for building a $44-billion mega refinery complex in Maharashtra was on “right track”.
Reports from Abu Dhabi, where Pradhan is attending the energy conference and exhibition ADIPEC, quoted the minister as saying that the doors for foreign direct investments in India’s fuel retail market were opened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he met oil company bosses in Houston during his recent US visit.
The Prime Minister’s round-table was attended, among others, by chief executives of ExxonMobil, BP, Royal Dutch Shell, Rosneft, Saudi Aramco and ADNOC. Agency reports quoted Pradhan as telling reporters in Abu Dhabi that India was “inviting” foreign majors and he was “enthusiastic” about their participation. The government is planning to hive off Bharat Petroleum (BPCL), the country’s third-largest fuel retailer and second-largest refiner in the public sector.
It also holds the view that ONGC was free to sell Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL), the country’s second largest fuel retailer and third largest public sector refiner. During Modi’s first term, the government had sold its entire 51 per cent stake in HPCL to flagship explorer ONGC with the aim of creating “world class” integrated oil company to compete with global majors.
