Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the government wants the sale process of Air India and oil refiner Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) to be completed by March 2020. He said that both these works are expected to be completed by early next year. The Finance Minister said that the government will get a profit of one lakh crore from selling these two companies in this financial year. Sitharaman said, “Enthusiasm has been seen in investors even before the commencement of Air India’s sales process.” Last year, investors had not shown much enthusiasm in buying Air India, so it could not be sold. Explain that in view of the decline in tax collection in the current financial year, the government wants to raise revenue through disinvestment and strategic sales. The Finance Minister also said that necessary steps have been taken in time to deal with the economic slowdown and many sectors are now getting out of lethargy. Sitharaman said that the owners of many industries have been asked to improve their balance sheets and many of them are preparing for new investments.
The central government is going to sell more than 53% of its stake in BPCL. For this, all preparations have been completed by the government. The net worth of BPCL is currently 55,000 crores. The government aims to raise Rs. 65,000 crore by selling its entire 53.3 percent. Last year, the government pressurized ONGC to acquire HPCL. After this, the government had asked LIC to take over the bank in the last financial year after it did not find an investor for the stranded IDBI Bank. The government has also resorted to exchange traded funds (ETFs) to raise resources under the disinvestment process.
In August, Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) stated that Air India’s outstanding fuel bill had gone up to Rs 5,000 crore, which was almost unpaid. The Finance Minister said that he hoped that GST collection would increase with improvements in some areas. Apart from this, tax collection can also increase with reform measures. He said that the decision given by the Supreme Court on Essar Steel has seen a lot of improvement and in the next quarter its impact will be seen on banks’ balance sheets. He said that there has been a change in people as banks have disbursed loans of 1.8 lakh crores during festivals. Sitharaman said, “If the economic situation of consumers was not on track then why would they even consider taking loans from banks? And this is so across the country.
Govt to sale Air India & BPCL by March 2020 : FM
