Vedanta puts in expression of interest to buy govt stake in BPCL

Vedanta Group on Wednesday confirmed putting in a preliminary expression of interest (EoI) for buying government's stake in Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL). Vedanta's interest in India's second largest fuel retailer is because of synergies with its existing oil and gas business.

The government is selling its entire 52.98 per cent stake in BPCL and last date of putting EoI was November 16. "Vedanta's EoI for BPCL is to evaluate potential synergies with our existing oil and gas business," the company spokesperson said in a statement. "The EoI is at a preliminary stage and exploratory in nature." The government had at the close of bidding stated that "multiple" EoIs had been received. It, however, did not reveal the identity of the bidders.