Govt extends bidding deadline for RINL transaction advisors till Aug 26

The government on Friday extended the deadline by 9 days till August 26 for transaction advisors to bid for managing RINL privatisation.

This is the second extension given for transaction advisors. The first deadline was July 28, which was later extended to August 17 and now till August 26.

The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) had on July 7 floated the Request for Proposal (RFP) for appointing transaction advisors for RINL or Vizag Steel.

The government will appoint one transaction advisor from reputed merchant bankers or consulting firm for providing advisory services to DIPAM and managing the strategic disinvestment of the government's stake in RINL, along with RINL's stake in its subsidiaries/joint ventures.

The Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs (CCEA) on January 27 gave 'in-principle approval for 100 per cent disinvestment of government stake in Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), also called Visakhapatnam Steel Plant or Vizag Steel, along with RINL's stake in its subsidiaries/joint ventures through strategic disinvestment by way of privatisation.

The government has set a disinvestment target of Rs 1.75 lakh crore for the current fiscal. So far, it has raised about Rs 8,368 crore by selling a stake in Axis Bank, NMDC Ltd and Housing and Urban Development Corp (HUDCO).

As part of the privatisation strategy, the government aims to complete the strategic sale of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), Shipping Corp, Container Corporation, Neelachal Ispat Nigam Ltd, Pawan Hans, Air India, among others, by March 2022.