Govt appoints 7 part-time directors on SCI board

The government today said it has appointed seven part-time directors on the board of the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) in which it proposes to divest up to 10 per cent stake.

"Seven persons have been appointed as non-official part-time directors on the board of SCI. These directors will continue in office for a period of three years...," an official statement said.

The directors comprise MD and CEO, IDFC, Nasser Munjee, former Secretaries to Government of India SC Tripathi and Arun Ramanathan, former CMD, BPCL, U Sundararajan, IIM, Kolkata Professor Sushil Khanna, Chartered Accountant Arun Varma and former CMD, GRSE, TS Ganeshan.

The move is said to be aimed at making SCI Sebi-compliant and pave the way for listing in view of the proposed disinvestment.

The government proposes to disinvest up to 10 per cent stake in SCI through a follow-on public offer in the current financial year.

However, the quantum of fresh equity to be raised by the company is yet to be decided.

The Centre holds 80.12 per cent stake in SCI, while over 10 per cent is held by LIC. The remaining 3.15 per cent is with the public.

SCI is likely to utilise the proceeds from the follow-on offer for further acquisitions. At present, SCI owns 76 ships of 5.1 million DWT (deadweight tonnage) and has interests in all segments of shipping trade. In addition, it mans and manages 60 vessels of 0.2 million tonnes DWT -- which is the total weight of the ship including the cargo, crew and fuel.

The SCI stake sale is part of the government's plans to raise up to Rs 40,000 crore through disinvestment this fiscal. Besides SCI, the government is looking at offloading stake in two more shipping companies -- Cochin Shipyard and Dredging Corp of India.

The government had raised about Rs 25,000 crore last fiscal by divesting stake in NHPC, Oil India, NTPC and Rural Electrification Corp.