BEML, Shipping Corp. shares surge on govt’s disinvestment plan

Shares of state-owned companies Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) and Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) rallied up to 6% in opening trade on Tuesday amid report that the central government is revisiting plans for strategic stake sale in these public sector entities. As per the report, the government may soon issue an expression of interest (EoI) for strategic disinvestment in these non-strategic PSU companies.

Riding high on the divestment plan report, Shipping Corporation shares rose as much as 5.93% to hit a high of ₹120.65 on the BSE. The PSU stock opened with a gain of 3.69% at ₹118.10, against the previous closing price of ₹113.90. As many as 0.69 lakh shares changed hands over the counter as compared to the two-week average volume of 1.12 lakh stocks, while market capitalisation (m-cap) rose to ₹5,494.1 crore.

Similarly, BEML share price belled the day at ₹1818.30, against the previous closing price of ₹1815.85 on the BSE. In the first hour of trade so far, the stock climbed as much as 2.49% to touch a high of ₹1861, while the m-cap increased to ₹7,725.26 crore.

Meanwhile, the BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 497 points higher at 58,469 levels at the time of reporting, with all sectoral indices flashing in green, led by power and realty space. The top gainers on the BSE Sensex pack were Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, IndusInd Bank, Maruti Suzuki India, and UltraTech Cement.

The government is likely to invite EoI for stake sale in BEML and Shipping Corporation over the next few months, reported Economic Times. "The demerger of land and non-core assets of both companies, which has held up the stake-sale plans, is expected to be completed by October this year," the report noted.

As per the report, the government is also mulling to offload stake in other PSU entities, including National Fertilizers Ltd (NFL) and Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers Ltd (RCF).

Earlier this month, the corporate affairs ministry had given a nod to the demerger of land and non-core assets of BEML to BEML Land Assets Ltd, clearing the way for the disinvestment process. The divestment was delayed multiple times due to hurdles in demerging of assets.

The government of India, which owns 54.03% in BEML, plans to sell around 26% stake in the heavy equipment manufacturing company. At the current market price, disinvestment of 26% stake in BEML will fetch around ₹2,000 crore to the exchequer.

In case of Shipping Corporation, the government is likely to invite financial bids by the end of October quarter, following the completion of the demerger of non-core assets. As part of the strategic-sale process, the government is planning to split off Shipping House and the training institute and some other non-core assets of Shipping Corporation of India (SCI).

In May this year, the board of Shipping Corp had approved an updated demerger scheme for hiving off the non-core assets of SCI to Shipping Corporation of India Land and Assets Ltd (SCILAL) including Shipping House, Mumbai and MTI (Maritime Training Institute), Powai to complete the process of de-merging all the non-core assets to the new company SCILAL.

In the current financial year, the government has raised ₹24,544 crore through disinvestment in PSU units against a full year budget target of ₹65,000 crore. The government is hopeful to meet this fiscal’s disinvestment target with the sale of stake in BEML and Shipping Corporation of India by the end of March 2023.