Mumbai, Mar 8 (PTI) Maharashtra Energy Minister Nitin Raut on Sunday condemned the Centre's move to sell its entire 52.98 per cent stake in Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), and asked that the decision be scrapped.

The Narendra Modi government on Saturday invited expressions of interest for the strategic sale of BPCL by May 2, the Centre's Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) said in the bid document.

"We condemn the Centre's decision, which will virtually end reservations for backward communities. It will destroy job opportunities. The decision should be withdrawn," Raut said in a statement.

Raut said the Modi government was ending reservations by privatising public sector undertakings (PSUs) which have quotas in jobs.

Raut said BPCL earned 40 per cent profit in the last quarter and was a goldmine for the government.

"As the Modi government has emptied state coffers by offering largesse and waiving bank loans of Rs 7 lakh crore of rich businessmen, it is now selling BPCL to raise funds for expenditure," Raut alleged.

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