The Government of India is preparing to sell Ferro Scrap Nigam Limited (FSNL), a subsidiary of MSTC Limited, to meet the disinvestment target. The Secretary, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) tweeted on Monday (20-June-2022) that several companies have shown interest in FSNL Limited. Earlier last month, the bid submission date of FSNL Limited was extended till June 6 by the government. Earlier, the last bid submission date was fixed as May 5, 2022.
Government plans to sell the entire stake: The government is going to sell the entire stake in FSNL Limited. FSNL Limited is a Mini Ratna and a Profitable Company. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs had given its approval in October 2016 for the disinvestment of FSNL Limited, a wholly owned company of MSTC Limited.
FSNL Limited was established in 1979. The company is a leader in metal scrap recovery and slag handling in India. The company has 9 steel plants in India. FSNL has expertise in metal recovery from slag and waste generated during steel and iron making and further processing.
BPCL’s disinvestment withdrawn: Recently, the Central Government withdrew the disinvestment process of BPCL, the country’s second largest state-owned oil distributor, due to lack of buyers. The government had planned to sell its entire 52.98 per cent stake in BPCL to meet the disinvestment target. The government had invited bids from companies for sale to BPCL in March 2020 and at least three bids had been received till November 2020 but later all the companies withdrew their bids.
Let us tell you, for the financial year 23, the government has set a target of investment of 65 thousand crores. A few weeks ago, the DIPAM secretary had said that the government has so far received Rs 24,046.40 crore through disinvestment, which includes Rs 20,560 crore from LIC IPO.