BPCL gets permit to raise foreign holdings to 49%
The Dollar Business Bureau
The Reserve Bank of India, in a new release, announced that foreign investors can raise their holdings in state-owned Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd up to 49%.
In an effort to boost the purchase of equity shares by Registered Foreign Portfolios Investors and Foreign Institutional Investors, RBI scaled up the maximum investment to 49% of the paid up capital of BPCL under the Portfolio Investment Scheme, RBI said in its release on Thursday.
The move came after a resolution was passed by the Board members. Besides the board members, the shareholders also passed a special resolution to enhance the limit for purchase of shares.
The release further stated that the purchases of equity shares could be made via primary market or stock exchanges.
Earlier, a judicial bench had blocked the Central Govt’ s move to privatize BPCL. However, privatizing BPCL will require a majority in both the houses of the Parliament. As of FY ended March, 2016, the promoters group owned 54.93% shares, while the public holdings accounted for 45.07%, reveal records available with BSE.
Mumbai based BPCL operates two refineries located in Kochi and Mumbai. In a joint venture with Oman Oil Company, it also operates a refinery at Bina, Madhya Pradesh.
In 2015, the state-controlled corporation secured 280th position in The Fortune Global 500 rankings of the biggest corporations across the world.
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