A consortium led by Foresight Group wants to expand the LNG carrier fleet of Shipping Corp of India (SCI) if its bid for the state carrier turns out to be successful.
The London-based group has teamed up with Belgian gas carrier specialist Exmar and demolition cash buyer GMS to acquire a 63.75% stake in SCI that is held by the Indian government.
Ravi Mehrotra, Foresight’s executive chairman, told Indian media that he thinks SCI should focus more on LNG transport to meet the country's rising import needs.
New Delhi has recently announced a new target to increase natural gas in the country’s energy mix from 6% currently to 25% by 2030 to reduce pollution.
This was even more ambitious than the government’s previous goal of 15%.
Mehrotra told Indian newspaper the Business Standard that SCI would need another 100 LNG carriers just to reach the old target.
“With India having set a target to increase its gas contribution in the energy basket, we see SCI playing a major role due to its strong presence in the tanker segment,” he said.
“We will be moving in this direction to reach the target set by the country.”
Foresight would fund the acquisition with money from a family trust and consortium partners while looking for strategic investors including private equity funds, according to The Times of India.
When contacted by TradeWinds on Wednesday, Mehrotra confirmed the reports were correct.
Industry veteran
The Indian government is expected to finalise the sale of its stake in SCI this year after receiving preliminary bids on 1 March.
Aside from the consortium, Darwin Platform Group of Companies, Megha Engineering and Infrastructure, Great Eastern Shipping, Safesea Group, Vedanta Resources and Seven Islands Shipping are also bidding for the country’s largest shipping firm.
SCI has a fleet of about 60 tankers, bulkers and offshore vessels, according to its website. It also has stakes in four LNG carriers on long-term charters to Petronet LNG and ExxonMobil.
Mehrotra, who is aged 79, started his carrier in 1964 with SCI as a marine engineering officer.
He later arrived in London to establish Foresight in 1984. The company now has multinational presence in the shipping, drilling and hospitality sectors.
