Disinvestment: NRL MD urges Pradhan to expedite NRL separation from BPCL: Sources

• The delay is affecting the decision-making process at the Assam-based oil refinery, said sources

• DIPAM had earlier said that NRL will be carved out of BPCL before it is disinvested, without elaborating on the timeline

New Delhi: As the disinvestment process for Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) drags at its own pace, Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL) Managing Director SK Barua is said to have approached Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and has urged him to expedite the separation of NRL from BPCL, said sources who spoke to PSU Watch on the condition of anonymity. BPCL disinvestment has now entered the second stage where bidders have to submit financial bids for acquiring the government's stake in the oil marketing company.

The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) had earlier said that NRL will be carved out of BPCL before it is disinvested, without elaborating on the timeline. However, sources who spoke to PSU Watch on the condition of anonymity said that the process of separation of NRL will move along with BPCL disinvestment process.

Slow progress in BPCL disinvestment hampering decision-making at NRL: Sources

According to sources, the reason why NRL MD has approached Pradhan and has sought speeding up of the process of separation is that the delay is affecting the decision-making process at the Assam-based oil refinery. Speaking to PSU Watch, Binod Gogoi, General Secretary of Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh-affiliated Numaligarh Refinery Employees' Union, said, "Because of the delay in separation, the process of wage revision at NRL has been stuck. Workmen at NRL are due for a wage revision with effect from January 1, 2017."

The issue of LTS finalisation

Gogoi added that he also wrote a letter to Pradhan in December 2020, apprising him of the matter and sought his intervention in resolving the same. In the letter, which was accessed by PSU Watch, the employees' union general secretary said that the NRL management had conveyed to the union that the BPCL management is not allowing the former to finalise LTS before the finalisation of LTS at BPCL.

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"…according to NRL management, Shri K Padmakar, Director (Human Resource) also holding Additional Charge of Chairman and Managing Director, BPCL told NRL management that whatever LTS for BPCL workmen will be same for NRL workmen also, which cannot be accepted (sic.)," wrote Gogoi.

"Sir, since BPCL is on the verge of privatisation and all the activities related to disinvestment are in progress and also Government of India has already declared that NRL will be handed over to another oil PSU, in that sense we feel that NRL should be separated from BPCL as soon as possible so that NRL management can finalise our LTS independently," said Gogoi in the letter.

The backdrop

At the time, the government announced the decision to disinvest BPCL in November 2019, it had said that NRL will be carved out of the oil behemoth and will continue to be a state-owned company. Later, it was decided that a consortium of Oil India Limited (OIL) and Engineers India Ltd (EIL) will acquire 48 percent stake in NRL.

What does the NRL management say?

Commenting on the news carried by PSU Watch, the NRL management has said in an official response on Friday, "We wish to inform you that the statement is not true. MD NRL has neither met the Hon'ble Minister nor has he written any letter requesting for expediting of the process." However, PSU Watch stands by its story and the reliability of the sources from where the information came. 

This story has been updated on January 8 to include NRL's response.

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