Union Cabinet approves disinvestment in BPCL, SCI and 3 other blue-chip PSUs

Addressing a press conference after a Union Cabinet meeting in Delhi, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the Centre has decided to sell its 53.29% stake in BPCL but the control of Numaligarh refinery in Assam will remain with the government.

Pic courtesy: ANI

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said that the Cabinet has approved the sale of stake of the government in five prominent Public Sector Units (PSUs), including Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), and Container Corp of India.

Addressing a press conference after a Union Cabinet meeting in Delhi, Sitharaman said that the Centre has decided to sell its 53.29% stake in BPCL but the control of Numaligarh refinery in Assam will remain with the government. Sitharaman added that the Numaligarh Refinery will be taken over by another public sector company in future.

The Centre also decided to sell its stake in THDC India and North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Ltd (NEEPCO) to government-owned NTPC Ltd, and the government's stake in select PSUs will be brought below 51% while retaining management control.

The Union Cabinet also decided to sell 67 percent in Shipping Corporation of India and transfer the management control to private players. The government also decided to disinvest 30.8 percent of its stake along with transfer of management control to strategic buyer in CONCOR.

Other key decisions taken by the Cabinet:

- Telecom companies will have to pay applicable interest on deferred spectrum payments

- Deferred Spectrum payment to be equally spread over the remaining installments without any increase in existing time period

- In view of financial stress faced by telecom firms, the Cabinet has approved deferring receipt of spectrum auction instalments for two years.

- Cabinet has approved monetising of National Highway Authority of India projects that are operational and collecting toll for at least one year since construction through the TOT model.

- NHAI gets Cabinet's nod to vary concession period to 15 to 30 years from 30 years.

- The Union Cabinet has also approved import of 1.2 lakh tonnes of onion to ease domestic supplies and prices

- The Union Cabinet also approved the bill to grant ownership rights to people living in Delhi's unauthorised colonies.