New Delhi: Just a week ahead of the closure of bid submissions for Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) stake, the company has offered voluntary retirement to its employees. The last date for submitting the expressions of interest (EoIs) for the 52.98 per cent BPCL stake is July 31. The deadline has been postponed twice.
The Bharat Petroleum Voluntary Retirement Scheme – 2020 (BPVRS-2020) opened on July 23 and will close August 13. According to the notice to employees, the voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) has been offered keeping in mind those who may not be in a position to continue in the company’s service due to personal reasons.
Employees above 45 years of age are eligible for the VRS.
Those opting for the VRS would either receive a compensation payment equivalent to two months’ salary for each completed year of service, or the monthly salary at the time of voluntary retirement multiplied by the months of service left before retirement, whichever is less.
Further, compensation for any part-period served in a year will be worked out on a pro-rata basis and the salary drawn as on date of release shall be reckoned for the purpose. Meanwhile, according to official sources, the government is confident that EoIs will sail through within time with several bidders joining the fray.
The BPCL disinvestment has received interest from several large global oil & gas firms as well as a few Indian entities. The process, so far, has generated around 100 enquiries, indicating that investors are interested in the Maharatna oil PSU despite the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to official sources privy to the development.
Saudi Aramco, Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (Adnoc), Rosneft of Russia and ExxonMobil plan to participate in the bidding. Indian oil majors are not far behind their global counterparts and are pursuing the prospects of bidding for BPCL. Oil-to-telecom major Reliance Industries too is understood to have shown interest.
