BPCL, which had closed yesterday at Rs.454.90, opened 5% higher at Rs.477 and went on to hit a new high at Rs.482.40, a rise of 6.5%.

The stock price has reacted positively to the news that the PSU plans to sell its entire stake in Numaligarh refinery in Assam to a consortium of Oil India and Engineers India for Rs 9,876 crore.

OIL currently holds 26% while the Govt of Assam has around 12.35%.

And this sale of the Numaligarh Refinery clears the way for privatisation of India's second-largest fuel retailer.

The consortium of OIL and Engineers India is likely to acquire 49% and the rest 13.65% will be sold to the Government of Assam.

Numaligarh Refinery operates a 3 million tonnes per annum oil refinery in Assam.