The Indian government is set to call for offers in the delayed privatisation of Shipping Corp of India (SCI).
Bids will be invited by the middle of May, according to state officials cited by Reuters.
But a final decision will be taken on 14 April by a panel headed by India’s cabinet secretary, they said.
The state’s holding of 63.75% in the tanker, gas carrier and bulker owner is up for grabs.
A market cap in Mumbai of INR 39.56bn makes the stake worth INR 25.2bn ($307m).
The stock was trading at INR 84.95 per share on Tuesday, after plunging from a high of INR 138 last month.
This is still up from the INR 62 level seen at the end of 2019.
The sell-off process was launched in 2020 but was held up by disagreements among stakeholders over the divestment of non-core assets.
This spin-off has now been completed after receiving regulator approval in February.
The demerged company, called SCI Land Assets Ltd, will have to be listed before 23 April and the government plans to do that soon, one of the two officials said.
The finance ministry has not commented.
Cash row
SCI Land Assets has taken over SCI’s Shipping House headquarters in Mumbai, a training institute, and other non-shipping assets.
But there was controversy over an INR 10bn transfer of cash from SCI to the new operation. This met opposition from unions, lenders and some company managers.
The process will leave SCI with INR 2.7bn of liquidity for general corporate purposes. A further INR 1.3bn is ring-fenced for vessel acquisitions.
The privatisation of the core shipping business is expected to be completed by March 2024.
SCI has a fleet of about 60 tankers, bulkers and offshore vessels, according to its website.
It also has stakes in four LNG carriers on long-term charters to Petronet LNG and ExxonMobil.
The three bidders for SCI are a consortium comprising UK-based owner Ravi Mehrotra’s Foresight Group and vessel demolition cash buyer GMS, US tanker and bulker owner Safesea Group and domestic conglomerate Megha Engineering & Infrastructures.
