India Offers Qatar ADB's Stake in Petronet LNG

India has offered Qatar a 5.2 per cent stake that Asian Development Bank (ADB) held in Petronet LNG. 

Economic Times has reported that Indian state owned firms -- Indian Oil, Oil & Natural Gas Corp, Bharat Petroleum and GAIL India -- had previously evinced interest in buying the ADB stake but the Oil Ministry blocked the move as it would have turned Petronet into a public sector company. 

The ADB had on August 23 last year offered to sell its 5.2 per cent stake in Petronet.

"Keeping in view the specific approval of the Cabinet on restricting the aggregate Government/PSU participation to 50 per cent of paid up capital for providing the desired flexibility to Petronet LNG to operate in a dynamic LNG import market, the existing shareholding structure in the context of PSU participation, should be retained," minutes of the March 26 meeting had stated, the Economic Times report said.