Engineers India to bid to buy out govt stake in PDIL

State-owned engineering consultancy firm EIL said Thursday it will bid to acquire government's 100 percent stake in Projects and Development India Ltd (PDIL). It, however, did not give details saying they were confidential.

In a regulatory filing, Engineers India Ltd (EIL) said its board of directors in a meeting Thursday "considered the proposal for acquisition of 100 percent paid-up share capital of PDIL from President of India."

The Board gave "the approval of bidding for the same by way of Share Acquisition Route," it said. "Other details cannot be disclosed due to confidentiality of the matter."

The government in October last year invited bids from EIL or other similarly placed PSUs to buy out its 100 percent shareholding in consultancy firm PDIL.

Miniratna PSU Projects & Development India Ltd (PDIL) is under the administrative control of Chemical and Fertilizers Ministry.

"The Government of India has 'in-principle' decided to disinvest 100 percent of its shareholding in PDIL through strategic disinvestment with the transfer of management control to Engineers India Ltd (EIL) or other similar Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs)," said the Preliminary Information Memorandum inviting Expression of Interest floated in October last year.

Earlier this year, Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) acquired government's 51.11 percent stake in Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) for Rs 36,915 crore. This had helped the government meet its sell-off (disinvestment) target for 2017-18 fiscal.

Founded in 1978, PDIL provides design engineering and consultancy services. It serves fertilizer and allied chemical industries, oil and gas sector, power and infrastructure sectors in India and internationally.

EIL too is the similar business. It however is under the administrative control of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. Founded in 1965, it provides design, engineering, procurement, construction, and integrated project management services primarily for oil and gas and petrochemical industries.

In order to bring in efficiency in functioning of public sector undertakings, the government is pushing for merger of similarly placed firms. The Cabinet has approved the merger of SBI with its five associates.

There are six consultancy firms, which may merger into EIL to create a mega-consultancy firm. The firms are MECON, Telecommunications Consultants India (Ltd), Engineering Projects (India), WAPCOS and PDIL.

Rationale behind the move is that merger would help create a big company that can compete globally and put India on the global map of doing turnkey projects.