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The Union Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, Thiru T.R. Baalu today received a cheque of Rs.26.40 crore as dividend for the year 2003-04 from the CMD of Dredging Corporation of India Ltd.(DCI), here. DCI has declared the highest ever dividend of 120 per cent for the year 2003-04. It has achieved the highest ever turnover of Rs.561 crore and the highest ever profit of Rs.170.01 crore for 2003-04. Its earnings per share were also the highest at Rs.60.72 per share. DCI had been upgraded to Schedule B status from Schedule C during 2002. With sustained effort, DCI has successfully achieved an all round rating of “Excellent” for eight successive years and for 2003-04 also, it expects this rating.
Speaking on the occasion, Thiru Baalu said, “DCI has taken major initiatives to meet future dredging requirements in India and abroad. These include addition to dredging fleet by procurement of one Trailer Suction dredger of 5000 cu.m. hopper capacity and one Cutter Suction dredger of 10,000 HP, in the near future. It has engaged Price Water House Coopers for formulating Joint Ventures/Special Purpose Vehicles with international dredging companies in order to help DCI in undertaking capital dredging projects in a big way. It has given thrust to R&D for which it has entered into MOU with IIT, Chennai and intends to enter into MOU with NIOT, Chennai to jointly carry out R&D projects in the field of dredging and develop in-house R&D facilities. DCI has obtained ISM Certification for all its vessels and is in the process of obtaining ISPS Certification also. Increased thrust is being given to training of personnel by deputing its employees to TID, Holland for imparting specialized training in dredging. It has also undertaken various programes for imparting technical and managerial skills to its employees.”
During the year, the Government of India disinvested 56,00,000 equity shares of Rs.10 each amounting to 20 per cent of the paid-up share capital of the company, out of its shareholding in the company, through offer for Sale at price determined through Book building process. The response to the Offer for Sale was overwhelming and the issue was oversubscribed 18 times. Consequent to this disinvestment, the shareholding of Government of India in the Company now stands at 78.56 per cent.
Thiru Baalu also expresses his pleasure at the receipt of first ever dividend cheque of Rs.8.33 crore from the CMD of Cochin Shipyard Ltd. (CSL) at Cochin on Oct. 14, 2004. While congratulating the Shipyard authorities for their good performance, he advised them to go for roadshows in the Middle-East and South-East Asia to showcase India’s excellent shipbuilding and ship repair capacity at competitive prices. CSL is presently constructing six bulk carriers of 30,000 DWT capacity for M/s Clipper of Denmark and nine tugs for the Jeddah Port Authority, Saudi Arabia.
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