Shourie-Naik deadlock continues

NEW DELHI: The deadlock between Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie and Petroleum Minister Ram Naik on privatisation of Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) continues as the two are understood to have failed to reach a consensus at a meeting last week.
At a meeting held at Naik''s residence, the two continued to debate on the merits of privatisation versus a public offer.
While Naik is believed to have put on record the issues like requirement of funds to complete capacity addition projects of the two refiners, Shourie argued that shares would delay implementation of the CCD decision for strategic sale.
The meeting was seen as an effort to resolve differences and take to the CCD a common programme for the highly profitable BPCL and HPCL, sources said, adding the Cabinet Committee on Disinvestment (CCD) will decide between an IPO or strategic sale at its next meeting likely soon after the current monsoon session of Parliament which ends on August 14.
Shourie is believed to have put before Naik a time-table for sale of 36 per cent government equity in BPCL and 26 per cent in HPCL.
He proposed to invite initial bids for BPCL next month and complete the sale before the end of the current financial year, sources said. Disinvestment of HPCL would happen in the first quarter of 2003-04, sources added.