The Indian government has announced on Wednesday about the extension of the deadline for submitting initial bids to buy state-owned Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BCL) to November 16.

"In view of further requests received from the interested bidders and the prevailing situation arising out of COVID-19 pandemic, the last date for submission of EoIs (Expression of Interest) is further extended to 16th November," the government said in a statement.

Reuters have cited sources stating "government's efforts to privatise refiner BPCL could spill over into the next fiscal year and global players such as Saudi Aramco and Russia's Rosneft may not participate in the bid".