New Delhi: The Board of Directors at state-run Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) has given its 'in principle' approval to the merger of Bharat Gas Resources Ltd (BGRL) with itself. BGRL is a wholly owned subsidiary of BPCL. After a meeting of the Board of Directors on December 17, BPCL said in a regulatory filing to the stock exchanges, "In terms of Regulation 30 of the SEBI (Listing Obligations & Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, this is to inform you that the Board of Directors of the Company at the meeting held on 17 December 2020 has accorded its 'in principle' approval for merger of Bharat Gas Resources Ltd Limited (a wholly owned subsidiary of BPCL) with BPCL subject to the approval of the competent authorities and completion of Regulatory and other requirements."
BGRL is engaged in the business of Natural Gas. The Authorised Equity Share capital of BGRL is Rs 2,300 crore and current paid-up capital is Rs 558.62 crore. During the financial year 2019-20, BGRL has recorded revenue from operations of Rs 273.35 crore.
The government is set to disinvest its shareholding in BPCL and the process has entered the second stage where qualified bidders will be asked to put in financial bids. The three entities that have thrown their hats in the ring are Anil Agarwal's Vedanta, Apollo Global, and I Squared Capital. BPCL has a vast 20 percent share in retail petroleum products business and huge refining capacities, and its hydrocarbon exploration and production (E&P) assets remain attractive for global players vying for a pie in the fast-growing Indian fuel market.
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