The Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) is seeking bids from global suppliers for a fifth of its LPG needs in 2021.
The bidding is still open to the Middle East producers, which already provide BPCL with the majority of its contracted needs.
The latest tender is aimed at getting better prices for supplies compared with those from the Middle East and to diversify sources of LPG.
BPCL is seeking bids for about 8,00,000 tonne of LPG in 2021, a fifth of its annual import requirement of about four million tonne.
To reduce freight costs, BPCL will consider taking responsibility for shipping if cargoes are sold free-on-board from the Arab Gulf region, unlike its tender earlier in 2020, which required the seller to deliver cargoes to India.