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CCD to meet on Sep 7 to discuss HPCL, BPCL

Amid intense lobbying to put the strategic sale of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd on the backburner, the crucial meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Divestment slated for Thursday, has been postponed.

The CCD will now meet on September 7 to decide on the divestment of the oil PSUs.

Deferred for the fourth time in a row, the meeting of CCD will now be help once Defence Minister George Fernandes returns from abroad. It is believed that Fernandes insisted on his presence though he is not a member of the high powered committee, chaired by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Sources close to the divestment process said that Fernandes wrote to Vajpayee expressing his desire to be present at the meeting for deciding on quantum and modalities of sale of stake in HPCL and BPCL.

Department of Divestment has circulated agenda paper for the September 6 meeting, which includes decision on barring all public sector units from participating in the divestment process, informed sources said in New Delhi.

CCD is also likely to consider sale of minority stake in Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Indian Oil Corporation and Gas Authority of India Ltd.

Petroleum Minister Ram Naik, who is leaving for Brazil on Friday to attend World Petroleum Congress, would cut short his visit and return on the evening of September 5.

Naik was ready to make his presentation to the CCD in which he was likely to oppose the strategic sale of the petroleum distribution giants. He, instead favoured the divestment of the government stake in these companies through initial public offering.

However, Divestment Minister Arun Shourie is keen on the outright strategic sale along with the transfer of the management.

It may be recalled that the divestment ministry has been pushing for sale of 36 per cent government equity in BPCL and 26 per cent in HPCL.

While the government had announced a target of Rs 12,000 crore (Rs 120 billion) for the current financial year, the divestment ministry was working on an ambitious target of Rs 50,000 crore (Rs 500 billion) privatisation programame.

(With additional inputs from PTI)

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