Concor Privatisation Progress

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The Indian Government finally appears to be making progress in its long-stated desire to privatise the Container Corporation of India (Concor).

In January 2023, the Government was expected to announce a request for Expressions of Interest in the privatisation of Concor. This news followed a decision in November 2019 in which the Cabinet Oﬃce approved a sale of 30.8 per cent of the company and management control from the government’s 54.8 per cent equity. A stake of 24 per cent was due to be retained, although without any veto powers.

PROFITABLE CONCOR
The company has continued to grow its income from operations by 6.2 per cent per annum over the past 10 years, while total income has also risen over this period by 5.8 per cent per annum. Net profit though, has been less progressive, seeing just 1.4 per cent per annum during the same 10 years, but the company does continue to make a profit. By comparison, total traﬃc handled by Concor increased by 5.4 per cent per annum between 2012-13 and 2021-22.

There has been strong speculation that there will be a number of interested parties in gaining a share in Concor. This includes AP Moller Maersk and while Maersk India made no public comment, the following was subsequently made available by a spokesperson: “A.P. Moller-Maersk is in the process of transforming itself into an integrated container logistics and shipping company, and this means that we are continuously looking at how we can eﬀectively connect and simplify our customers’ supply chains.”

Local reports, made in April 2023, suggest that expressions of interest will be oﬃcially requested during Q2, 2023, which ties in with similar plans involving the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI). As it is now over three years since the privatisation of Concor was first confirmed, any traction is going to be warmly welcomed, if true.

Concor has been engaged in the transportation and handling of containers since it was incorporated in March 1998 when it took control of seven inland container depots from Indian Railways. The company has since grown its service oﬀering, which now includes 61 terminals for domestic and international cargo, with additional supporting logistics activities, subsidiaries in the air cargo business and possessing 1359 employees as of March 2022.