BPCL is currently among the top five gainers on the BSE, going up over 7.5% to hit an intraday high at Rs.423.90. Its 10% UC of the day is at Rs.433.45.

31st July is the last date for submitting the Expressions of Interest (EoI) for 52.98% stake in the company. And as the date nears, there are unconfirmed news reports that the likes of Saudi Aramco, Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (Adnoc), Rosneft of Russia and Exxon Mobil intend to participate in the bidding process for the PSU. Reliance Industries is also understood to have shown interest in bidding.

At the current rate, the stake is stated to be worth over Rs.43,000 crore.

In this divestment, the Govt is selling its entire stake to a strategic investor with transfer of management control. It has barred other PSUs from bidding for BPCL.

The Govt will retain its 61.65% in Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL) and management control thereon. The shareholding of BPCL in NRL will be transferred to a Central Public Sector Enterprise operating in the oil and gas sector under the Ministry and accordingly, is not a part of the proposed transaction.