Great Eastern likely to bid for Shipping Corp

NEW DELHI: Great Eastern Shipping Co Ltd is likely to submit an initial bid for Shipping Cor p of India Ltd, a source associated with the development told Informist.

The go vernment wants to sell its 63.75% stak e in Shipping Cor p of India, along with mana gement con trol. The go vernment toda y extended the last date to submit expression-of-interest for Shipping Cor p to Mar 1 fr om F eb 13. The Department of Investment and Pub lic Asset Management is no w compiling details of non-f leet da ta, mostly real estate, for conveying to investors.

Great Easter n Shipping's management has told investors it is waiting f or the government to clarify on key issues suc h a s tax tr eatment and li kely pr eferential cargo rights, in relation to Shipping Corp's disinvestment, a fund manager with a bank-spon - sored mutual fund tha t owns shares in the private shipping company, said.

India recently announced a 16.24-bln-rupee subsid y allocation to encourage shipowners to register their ships under the Indian flag. Shipowners larg ely pr efer to r egister their s hips under a "f lag of convenience", i.e . in countries with a lo w or z ero tax regime.

Shipping Cor p of India's fleet comprises bulk carriers, crude oil tank ers, pr oduct tankers, liquefi ed petr oleum gas/ammonia car riers, of fshore suppl y v essels along with conta iner and passen - ger-cum-cargo v essels. If Great Easter n Shipping emerges as the successful bidder for Shipping Cor p, it wil l complement the operations of the f ormer as th e compan y also operates crude, liquefied petroleum g as, dry b ulk and product carriers.