New Delhi: The government is considering a proposal to sell India's second-largest state refiner and fuel retailer BPCL to foreign and private firms but the privatisation plan will need a prior nod of Parliament, officials said. The ruling had followed a plan of the then BJP-led NDA government headed by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to privatise the two firms. BPCL was previously Burmah Shell, which in 1976 was nationalised by an Act of Parliament. HPCL was incorporated in 1974 after the takeover and merger of erstwhile Esso Standard and Lube India Ltd through the ESSO (Acquisition of Undertaking in India) Act passed by Parliament. "There is no challenge before this Court (Supreme Court) as to the policy of disinvestment.

Source: Mint September 29, 2019 08:03 UTC