RIYADH: State-owned oil marketing company Bharat Petroleum said on Wednesday it approved raising up to 180 billion rupees ($2.19 billion) through an issue of equity shares on a rights basis, underscoring India’s push to achieve net-zero emissions goals.
The details of the issue, including the price, right entitlement and timing, will be intimated separately after the board approval, it said in an exchange filing.
Last week, the company said the funds would be used to achieve “energy transition, net zero and energy security objectives.”
The Indian government is set to inject multibillion-dollar equity in its three big state refiners — Bharat Petroleum, Indian Oil Corp. and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd. — in return for funding toward the firms’ energy transition projects.
The three refiners together aim to invest 3.5 trillion rupees to 4 trillion rupees to achieve their net-zero emissions goals by 2040, sources told Reuters last week.
Indian Oil, which is also planning to launch a rights issue, on Saturday approved doubling its authorized share capital to 300 billion rupees.
According to the Reuters report, the oil ministry had also asked Hindustan Petroleum to make a preferential share allotment to the government.
