New Delhi: State-run BEML Limited has appointed Deloitte Haskins & Sells LPP for the demerger of non-core assets ahead of disinvestment, the defence PSU said in a regulatory filing to the stock exchanges on Friday. "We wish to inform that pursuant to the directives of the Government of India, the Board in its 371st meeting held today, i.e on 05.03.2021 approved the appointment of M/s Deloitte Haskins & Sells LPP, as Consultant for advising, undertaking and implementing Demerger of Non-core assets of the Company."
While presenting the Budget for 2021-22, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that idle PSU assets will not contribute to Atmanirbhar Bharat. While mentioning that non-core assets consisted largely of surplus land with government ministries/departments and Public Sector Enterprises, the minister had proposed to use a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) in the form of a company to carry out monetisation of idle land.
BEML's move to monetise non-core assets ahead of its disinvestment is in line with the announcement made by Sitharaman.
On January 4, the government had invited initial bids from private firms for the sale of 26 percent stake, along with management control, in the defence and engineering public sector undertaking BEML Ltd. The government has appointed SBI Capital Markets Limited as its transaction adviser for the proposed divestment of the BEML stake. Currently, the government holds 54.03 percent stake in the defence PSU. The proposal for the strategic disinvestment of 26 percent share in BEML had received a nod from the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs in October 2016.
Recently, the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) extended the deadline for the submission of Expressions of Interest (EoI) for BEML disinvestment from March 1 to March 22.
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