The government has invited expression of interest for selling its stake in Bridge & Roof Co (India) Ltd (B&R). The government owns 99.35 per cent share in the company.
Kolkata-based B&R introduces itself the ‘One-source, multi-discipline engineering company’. Its core business is civil, mechanical and structural construction. It claims that it is in the field of construction for past ninety-six years during which it has served almost all the major project implementation authorities in the country both in public and private sectors. It has over 1,200 employees on the roll. With over ₹2,000 crore of turnover, the company has been in black for last many successive years and ended fiscal year 2017-18 with a profit of over ₹21 crore.
“The GoI intends to disinvest its entire equity shareholding held by the President of India through the Department of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises in B&R along with transfer of management control through a competitive bidding process by way of sale of equity shares,” a preliminary information memorandum (PIM) for inviting expression of interest (EOI) read. This document was released on Thursday and the due date for submitting EOI is December 6.
Criteria
A company (including another public sector enterprises – PSE), a foreign company, consortium of companies, alternative investment funds (AIF) or even group of employees through forming a consortium can submit the expression. The bidder must have net worth equal to or in excess of ₹350 crore. Also, the bidder should have reported net profit in the last three out of five financial years.
The Centre feels that with emphasis on infrastructure development, there is good opportunity for growth for the company. According to India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), the government has targeted an investment of ₹25lakh crore in infrastructure sector over a period of three years, which will include ₹8lakh crore for developing 27 industrial clusters.
According to IBEF publications, the Indian real estate market is expected to touch $180 billion by 2020, representing a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.2 per cent in the period FY 2008-2020. Also, the government has allocated ₹5.97 lakh crore for the infrastructure sector in Union Budget 2018-19. For National Highways, ₹71,000 crore has been allocated.