New Delhi: Privatisation bound Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) has proposed to shed about 11 per cent of its workforce by offering the surplus staff a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS), the Rajya Sabha was informed on April 22.

"A proposal to introduce VRS in HPCL has been submitted to the government by HPCL," Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Santosh Kumar Gangwar said in a written reply to the Upper House of Parliament.

Under the scheme, the surplus employees identified by HPCL are about 1,000 in non- management category and 250 in management category (about 11 per cent of workforce).

The estimated expenditure to be incurred on the VRS has been indicated at about Rs 260 crore, he added.

Global oil majors including Royal/Dutch Shell, BP Amoco, Petronas of Malaysia, Saudi Aramco, Reliance Industries and Essar are among the 8 firms in fray for acquiring 34.01 per cent government stake in India's second largest oil firm.

HPCL, which owns refineries at Mumbai and Vizag with a total refining capacity of 13.5 million tonnes per annum and a 20 per cent retail market share, will give the buyer a readymade distribution network to tap into world's largest retail oil market worth 15 billion dollars a year in sales.

PTI