The government has received three preliminary bids to buy a controlling stake in India’s second-largest fuel retailer Bharat Petroleum Corporation, oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan said at a webinar on Wednesday.

Vedanta had on November 18 confirmed putting in an expression of interest (EoI) to buy the government’s 52.98 per cent stake in BPCL.

The other two bidders are said to be global funds, one of them being Apollo Global Management.

“A lot of interest is there...Dipam has recently informed the market... I think three parties have given EoIs,” he added but did not give the details.