The Government had accorded approval for Strategic Disinvestment of 100% GOI shares in DCIL in favour of consortium of 4 ports, namely, Visakhapatnam Port Trust, Paradip Port Trust, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust and Deendayal Port Trust (formely known as Knadla Port Trust). The share purchase agreement was executed between GOI and the four ports on 8.3.2019. With this the 73.47% holding of GOI in DCI has been transferred to the four ports as under:-
| Name of the port | Visakhapatnam Port Trust | Deendayal Port Trust | Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust | Paradip Port Trust |
| No. of shares | 5,451,710 | 5,040,101 | 5,040,101 | 5,040,101 |
| % of paid up share capital |
19.47%
|
18%
|
18%
|
18%
|
| Name | Designation |
| Mr T Krishna Babu, Chairman Visakhapatnam Port Trust | Chairman |
| Mr Rajesh Tripathi | Managing Director |
| Mr. Sanjay Sethi, Chairman Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust | Director |
| Mr. Sanjay Bhatia, Chairman, Deendayal Port Trust | Director |
| Mr. Rinkesh Roy, Chairman, Paradip Port Trust | Director |
| Mr. Anoop Sharma, CMD, Shipping Corporation of India | Independent Director |
With this transfer of the shares and management and control, of the Company, it is expected that the Company will have more operational and financial freedom in decision making which would enable the Company to take up and execute more works in an efficient way.
Dredging Corporation of India Limited (DCI) on 29th March, 1976, was incorporated as wholly owned Government of India Undertaking with the primary objective of catering to the dredging requirements of Indian ports. DCI was initially incorporated as a 100% Government owned Company. The GOI dis-invested 1.44%, 20%, 5% and subsequently 0.09% (employee offer) of its share holding in the Company in the years 1992, 2004, 2015 and 2016 respectively. After these dis-investments, the shareholding of the Government of India is 73.47%. The Company undertakes Capital Dredging, Maintenance Dredging, Beach Nourishment, Land Reclamation, Shallow water Dredging, Project Management Consultancy and Marine Construction for Major Ports, Indian Navy etc.
The Company was declared a Mini Ratna – Category I Public sector enterprise in the year 1999. The Company is a Schedule B Public Sector Enterprises. The Registered Office of the Company is situated at New Delhi. The head office of the company is located on the east coast of India at Visakhapatnam. The project offices are at various places like Kolkata, Haldia, Chennai, Ennore and Kochi.