The government today invited bids for selling its 63.75 per cent stake in the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) to a private investor, in a key asset sale which was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The deadline for submitting initial bids would be on Feb. 13, it said.
At 11.16 am, SCI’s shares were trading up 36 per cent up at Rs 85.30. With current stock prices, the company’s total market value is about Rs 4,000 crore.
In November last year, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had approved the proposal for strategic divestment in Shipping Corp. of India Ltd. However, the plan was delayed due to the pandemic and the Budget (2020-21) has set a divestment target of Rs 2.1 lakh crore. So Far, the government has raised Rs 11,006 crore through selling minority stake in CPSEs this fiscal year. Along with that, strategic disinvestment of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL) and Air India is going on and both the companies have received “multiple” Expressions of Interest (EoI) from potential buyers.