The government is considering a proposal to offload a part of its 86.36% stake in state-owned Indian Railway Finance Corp (IRFC) through the offer-for-sale (OFS) route this fiscal year, an official said.
An inter-ministerial group, which includes officers from the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) and the railways ministry, has started deliberations on the quantum of stake dilution in the financing arm of the railways through the OFS, he added. If the government decides to bring down its stake in IRFC to 75% through this OFS to comply with Sebi’s public shareholding norms, it could rake in about ₹7,600 crore, based on the company’s share price on Wednesday. Shares of IRFC inched up 0.57% on Wednesday to ₹51.19 apiece, against a 0.21% rise in the Sensex. The shares have jumped almost 58% in the past one month.
Recently, the government sold a 5.36% stake in another state-run railway company, Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL), through an OFS that fetched ₹1,366 crore. The government has mopped up 11% of its FY24 disinvestment revenue target of ₹ 51,000 crore in the first quarter of this fiscal year.
Source: Economic Times