PSU officers associations oppose BPCL disinvestment

Officers from Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) came together to oppose the proposed disinvestment of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) on Monday.

Taking a strong position against the proposed disinvestment of BPCL, Convenor of Confederation of Maharatna Officers Association (COMCO), Mukul Kumar said that the move to transfer the management control is regressive and non-beneficial.

“Is it another East India Company movement for India? Offering huge Indian Petroleum sector on the platter to a foreign company would herald another era of profiteering, exploitation, tyranny and flight of capital from the country,” a statement from the associations said.

“If BPCL is sold on the basis of latest market cap of ₹ 1.06 lakh crore, the maximum realisation for 53.29 per cent stake of Government of India would be only ₹ 74 thousand crore, including control premium of 30 per cent,” according to the associations.

“Against the current preliminary indicative market price of the total assets of BPCL of ₹ 9 lakh crore (in-house estimates), there would be a minimum notional loss of ₹ 4.46 lakh crore to the country,” the statement added. This ₹ 9 lakh crore valuation is based on the replacement valuation method.

Officials said that the government soon will be informed about this estimated valuation by the associations. Responding to a query on whether it is a scam, officials said, “It is for you to assess when selling something worth ₹ 9 lakh crore for much lesser.”