Government garners Rs 57,523.32 cr from sell-offs post Dredging Corp stake sale

The government's FY19 disinvestment proceeds have reached Rs 57,523.32 crore following its decision to sell its entire stake in the Dredging Corporation (DCI) to a consortium of four state-owned ports for Rs 1,050 crore.

The government sold 73.44 per cent holding in the company at Rs 510 a share -- a premium of 17 per cent over Friday's close -- to Visakhapatnam Port Trust, Paradeep Port Trust, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust and Deendayal Port Trust.

The share sale will fetch the government Rs 1,050 crore, said RBSA Advisors, the adviser for the deal.

The government has a stiff target of Rs 80,000 crore from sell-offs for this year.

The market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India had exempted the deal from a mandatory open offer, said the adviser.

The decision came handy for the government to sell its entire stake in DCI. The move has also helped avert a political backlash in the forthcoming polls if the firm would have been privatised.

--IANS

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