The government is hoping to see strong interest in Shipping Corporation of India -- the latest divestment candidate it has put on the block – DIPAM Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey has said.

Pandey was speaking to CNBC-TV18 about the government’s ambitious disinvestment programme, which took a hit from the COVID-19 pandemic. “We are looking to privatise some PSUs and taking to the logical end previous decisions on privatisation that have already been taken,” Pandey said.

Towards that end, the secretary said that the government expects Shipping Corp disinvestment to spill over into next year.

On the other high-profile divestment exercises long in the making, Pandey said bidders for Air India will be intimated on January 5 while a Cabinet nod was awaited to divest government stake in IDBI Bank.

On BPCL, which has reportedly received bids from two global funds besides mining giant Vedanta, Pandey said he would not want to comment on the quality of the bidders.

On BEML, the DIPAM Secretary said the government will be inviting Expressions of Interest (EoI) as soon as possible.

(Edited by : Nazim Khan)