New Delhi, Mar 22 (IANS): The privatisation process of state-owned oil marketing company Bharat Petroleum Corporation has reached its second stage, the Parliament was informed on Tuesday.

"The Transaction Advisor appointed for the privatisation of BPCL had informed that multiple Expressions of Interest (EoIs) had been received for privatisation of BPCL, and the transaction is in second stage of the process," Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

According to the minister, the transaction advisor is bound by the non-disclosure agreement for not sharing the information relating to bidders during the "currency of the process to ensure competitive non-collusive bidding".

On the question of whether the government has a plan in place to ensure job security of current BPCL employees, Karad said: "The terms and conditions of the strategic disinvestment in the Share Purchase Agreement suitably address employees' concerns."

The Centre is divesting its entire 52.97 per cent shareholding in BPCL to a strategic investor via a bidding process.