Metal, Mining conglomerate Vedanta confirmed putting in a preliminary expression of interest (EoI) for buying the government's nearly percent stake in Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL).

"Vedanta's expression of interest for BPCL is to evaluate potential synergies with our existing oil and gas business," the company spokesperson said in a statement.  It added that the EoI is at a preliminary stage and exploratory in nature."

Global and domestic companies were invited by the government to submit their expressions of interest (EoI) for its 52.98 percent stake in Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) by Monday's deadline. "Strategic disinvestment of BPCL now moves to the second stage after multiple expressions of interest have been received," tweeted Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday without mentioning the number of bids received or the names of the bidders.

According to a Times of India report citing government sources, Anil Agarwal's Vedanta Group and two overseas funds are among suitors for BPCL. BPCL will give the buyer ownership to 15.33 percent of India's oil refining capacity and 22 percent of the fuel marketing share.

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