Shipping Corp of India Zooms Over 7% As Company Heads Closer To Disinvestment

Shares of Shipping Corp of India soared 7.5 per cent on Wednesday after hopes of the company heading closer to divestment lifted investor sentiment.

At 11.03 am, shares of Shipping Corp of India were trading at Rs 261.80 apiece on the NSE. Shares of SCI have been on a roll in the past few days amid growing expectations of its divestment and surged 16 per cent.

The strategic sale of Shipping Corporation of India Ltd. (SCI) is likely to finally take off with no further delay now that it has got the approval on stamp duty waiver from Maharashtra and the general elections are over, Moneycontrol.com reported quoting government sources.

“Now, there will be no delay in SCI disinvestment. Due to the elections, SCI’s strategic sale was a little delayed. The Maharashtra cabinet has already given a stamp duty exemption on this demerger. SCI building in Maharashtra is now with its demerged entity, Shipping corporation of India Land and Assets Limited (SCILAL),” the official told Moneycontrol.com. The stamp duty waiver of around Rs 300 crore, if not granted, would have been a major hitch.

The non-core assets of SCI, which come under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, were demerged from the company and listed on the exchanges separately as Shipping Corporation of India Land and Assets in March this year.

The demerger and subsequent market listing of SCI’s non-core assets have paved the way for inviting financial bids for the strategic sale of Shipping Corp. The next phase involves the government inviting financial bids for the strategic sale, with expectations of fetching around Rs 3,000 crore.