Congress questions govt's move to disinvest BPCL

New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday questioned the government's plan to disinvest Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), saying that the oil PSU has assets more valuable than the money its stake sale is hoped to bring.

Party spokesperson Pawan Khera alleged that the government wants to sell it for Rs 65,000 crore, but BPCL has four refineries, 14,800 petrol pumps, 123 petrol depots, 52 LPG plants, 5,907 LPG distributors and 56 aviation service stations.

Noting that the company showed a profit of 16 per cent in the last financial year and is also investing Rs 40,000 crore in the Kochi refinery, he compared it to the sale of Essar which has been sold to Russian company Rosneft for Rs 78,000 crore, though it had just one refinery.

"This way, the government in the name of strategic disinvestment wants to benefit corporate houses," Khera said, adding that his party has said that the future of the employees of BPCL is in doubt and that people are protesting, but nobody is paying heed to it.

The Congress spokesperson also alleged that in the name of scrapping archaic laws, the government has also scrapped the laws through which the Burmah Shell fuel company was nationalised in the late 1970s.

Khera also said that the Supreme Court has already said that any decision on BPCL privatisation will be taken by the Parliament only.

The party also said that the government is trying to sell CONCOR, which is making profits.