SINGAPORE (Bloomberg) — Bharati Shipyard Ltd. said it plans to offer a stake to Shipping Corp. of India as the nation's largest sea carrier aims to invest in shipbuilders in a bid to diversify after profit slumped last year.

"We are interested and have been discussing with them for the last one year," Vijay Kumar, managing director of the Indian shipbuilder, said in an interview in Singapore. Bharati may offer as much as 15 percent stake to Shipping Corp., he said.

Shipping Corp. is looking at buying a stake of between 10 percent and 15 percent in shipyards and the deadline for submissions of bids is in October, said S. Hajara, chairman and managing director of the Mumbai-based company in an interview in Singapore today. The company this month said it planned to purchase a stake in a shipyard to obtain new sources of revenue.

"We want a sort of backward integration," Hajara said. "In times when shipbuilding slots are at a premium, then to have a stake in a shipyard helps in getting slots."

Hajara said he isn't aware of talks with Bharati.

A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S, South Korea's Hanjin Group and STX Group, and China Ocean Shipping Group Co. are among companies that own both liners and shipyards.

Shipping Corp.'s net income plunged 60 percent in the year ended in March to 3.8 billion rupees ($84 million), the lowest in seven years, after the global recession cut trade.