Vedanta Resources, Great Eastern, Others Submit EoI To Acquire Govt’s Share In Shipping Corporation Of India

Billionaire Anil Agarwal led Vedanta Resources Limited, Hyderabad based Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited and Great Eastern Shipping have submitted their Expressions of Interest (EoIs) for buying out the Government's 63.75 per cent stake in the state-owned Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), reports Livemint.

Other than the companies aforementioned, United States (US) based Safesea Group and a consortium of Foresight Offshore Drilling Ltd SA, Belgium-based Exmar NV and Dubai-based GMS DMCC are also said to have submitted EoIs for buying SCI stake.

SCI carries about a third of India's shipping freight and is the largest Indian shipping company. It functions under the administrative control of the Union Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways and boasts of a fleet of 59 vessels and 3,281 employees. In addition to this, SCI also manages a large number of vessels on behalf of various government departments and organizations.

The strategic disinvestment is being managed by RBSA Capital Advisors LLP.

Meanwhile, it should be noted that Vedanta resources Limited has also submitted an EoI for state-owned refiner Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL). Also, Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited is also said to be looking to buy a 26% stake in state-run defence equipment maker BEML Ltd.