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Rs
800cr networth fixed for SCI bidders
Ravi
Kapoor
New Delhi, Jan 7: The government has fixed a networth
criterion of Rs 800 crore for the bidders of Shipping Corporation
(SCI). As per a decision of the Cabinet committee on disinvestment,
the government will sell its 51 per cent stake in SCI to a strategic
partner. The CCD has put a 25 per cent cap on foreign holding.
Apart from the networth criterion of Rs 800 crore as per the
latest annual accounts, the interested party/consortium should
have “a satisfactory business and management track record,”
official sources said, adding in case of a consortium bid, the
lead bidder should have a networth in excess of Rs 408 crore.
The disinvestment ministry will receive expressions of interest
from prospective bidders by February-end. This will be followed
by shortlisting, with the qualified interested parties participating
in the subsequent selloff process.
The government is optimistic about good response to the SCI
privatisation for a variety of reasons. First, an official said,
SCI was a very good company from the buyer’s point of view.
“It owns 40 per cent of Indian tonnage and has a fleet size
of about a 100 vessels.”
SCI, a profit-making PSU, earned a net profit of Rs 382.6 crore
during 2000-01, up from Rs 161.6 crore during 1999-00.
Second, the privatisation process has received a fillip in the
recent past, officials said, adding this must increase the confidence
of bidders in divestment. The government had been able to privatise
a few PSUs, though smaller in size, officials said. More important,
the Supreme Court’s judgement on the Balco sale had been a shot
in the arm for the MoD, they added.
According to officials, 25 per cent cap on foreign investment
would have no negative impact on the SCI privatisation.
SCI, the biggest domestic shipping company, has an authorised
capital of Rs 450 crore with a subscribed and paid-up capital
of Rs 282.30 crore. The government currently holds about 81
per cent in SCI and had offloaded its 19.88 per cent equity
in favour of FIs in 1992. SCI was set up in 1961 by merging
Eastern Shipping Corporation and Western Shipping Corporation.
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