'Shipping ministry agreed to SCI strategic divestment'

The Shipping Ministry is not opposed to strategic divestment of the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), a top official said.

The Shipping Ministry in 2017 had opposed the proposal of the strategic divestment of SCI, but has now agreed to the proposal of the group of secretaries for dilution of stake in the SCI, the official said.

A group of secretaries had recently approved the strategic sale of Shipping Corporation of India along with a few other PSUs.

"We had not opposed the strategic sale of SCI," Union Shipping Secretary Gopal Krishna told PTI when asked about its stand on the proposal of the group of secretaries.

"The matter is now with the Cabinet," Krishna said.

The government currently holds 63.75 per cent stake in the Shipping Corporation of India, the national flag carrier.

The Union Cabinet in October had approved the new policy under which the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) under the Ministry of Finance has been made the nodal department for the strategic stake sale.