Industry & Economy
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Petroleum
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IPOs
Naik sticks to IPO plan for BPCL, HPCL
Our Bureau
NEW DELHI, July 26
THE Petroleum Minister, Mr Ram Naik, on Friday stuck to his stated position on the need for an initial public offering (IPO) for Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) prior to the strategic sale.
The Disinvestment Ministry, however, is of the view that both the companies should be sold off through a strategic sale without an IPO preceding it.
``We urgently need money to finance capacity addition projects in both BPCL and HPCL. This is a very good time for raising money from the market through an IPO as oil PSU shares are being considered a good investment,'' Mr Naik told newspersons at a ceremony held to sign five contracts for coal bed methane exploration blocks.
The signatories to the five contracts were - a consortium of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) for two blocks besides Reliance Industries Ltd and Essar Oil Ltd for one block each.
``We are very clear that the projects have to be completed at any cost. Both these projects are essential not only to meet petroleum product requirement of Madhya Pradesh and Punjab, but also adjoining States. It is my job to ensure continuous product supply,'' he said.
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