BDL manufactures AKASH advanced air defence systems for the armed forces

Disinvestment department is learnt to have drawn up a list of relatively better performing CPSEs including blue-chips like NALCO, NMDC, NTPC, and Coal India to go for Offer for Sale

New Delhi: The Department of Investment and public Asset Management (DIPAM) will put 15 per cent of government stake on sale in Defence PSU Bharat Dynamics Ltd under the Offer for Sale (OFS) route and has invited merchant bankers to bid for the mandate to take it forward.

The Gol intends to dis-invest 15 per cent paid up equity capital of BDL out of its shareholding of 87.75 per cent, through OFS method of shares by promoters through the stock exchanges’, DIPAM said. Its current share price is Rs 305.90. It was listed in 2018.

It did not give a time frame but sources said the OFS is being planned for current fiscal.

Disinvestment department is learnt to have drawn up a list of relatively better performing CPSEs including bluechips like Nalco, NMDC, NTPC, and Coal India to go for Offer for Sale.

National Aluminium Co Ltd, Coal India Ltd, NTPC Ltd, NMDC Ltd, and NBCC (India) Ltd, Bharat Electronics Ltd, National Fertilisers Ltd and Hindustan Co pper Ltd, are on the list of probables for OFS where the government’s shareholding in these companies is in the range of 52-82 per cent.

DIPAM is trying to end the fiscal with at least a visible revenue generation with few OFS that can be possible before March 31, 2020 and OFS is the quickest way to do it if planned suitably. So far, the disinvestment kitty has only Rs 18,094 crore against a tall order target of Rs 1.05 lakh crore.

Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) is a Government of India Enterprise under the Ministry of Defence to act as a manufacturing base for guided missiles and allied defence equipment.

BDL is a Miniratna Category I, Public Sector Enterprise, is amongst a few industries in the world having capabilities to produce state-of-the-art guided weapon systems.

The PSU is poised to enter new avenues of manufacturing, covering a wide range of weapons systems such as Surface-to-Air Missiles, Defence Systems, Torpedoes, Air-to-Air missiles, making it a world class defence equipment manufacturer. The authorised share capital of the Company is Rs 200 Crore and the paid up equity capital is Rs 183.28 Crore as on 31.03.2019, DIPAM said.