New Delhi: Petroleum Minister Ram Naik on September 17 said the Supreme Court verdict on Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL)-Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) disinvestment would not "obstruct" privatisation process in other sectors.

"There is no reason for obstructing the disinvestments process, a decision taken by the government. However, any decision on these two companies would be taken after discussion in the Cabinet," he told reporters at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office, where he had an interaction with party workers.

Sticking to his view that the verdict of the apex court was a "historic one", Naik said this would not impact on the disinvestment process. "It would not be an obstruction to the decision to go ahead with disinvestment in other sectors."

Naik, who was opposed to disinvestment in oil majors HPCL and BPCL, declined to comment on his past position, saying "once the decision was taken at the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Disinvestment on January 26, we all agreed to it".

PTI