Govt extends bid submission deadline for Shipping Corp to March 1

The government on Friday extended the deadline for submission of preliminary bids to buy Shipping Corp of India to March 1.

The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) in December had invited expressions of interest for strategic disinvestment of its entire stake of 63.75 per cent in Shipping Corp of India, along with the transfer of management.

The last date for submitting the bid was February 13.

The last date for submission of EoI has been extended to March 1, the DIPAM said in a notice.

The Cabinet had in November last year gave in-principle approval for strategic divestment of Shipping Corp and Container Corp of India Ltd. However, the plans were delayed due to the pandemic.

In her Budget speech for 2021-22, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said, "A number of transactions namely Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd, Air India, Shipping Corp of India, Container Corp of India, IDBI Bank, BEML Ltd, Pawan Hans, Neelachal Ispat Nigam Ltd among others would be completed in 2021-22".

For 2021-22, the government has set a disinvestment target of Rs 1.75 lakh crore, over five times what it is aiming to raise in the current financial year. In the Revised Estimates, the target has been set at Rs 32,000 crore for current fiscal.