The government on Thursday sold 3.18% stake in Coal India, in the first big ticket disinvestment of current fiscal, which will fetch Rs5,300 crore to the exchequer. Retail investors lapped up 6.19 crore shares or 1.56 times the shares reserved for them. As much as 3.96 crore shares were reserved for retail investors, who can individually bid for shares worth up to Rs2 lakh.
Institutional buyers had on Wednesday bid for 15.84 crore shares or 1.06 times the equity earmarked for them.
Taking together the bids from institutional and retail investors in the two day offer for sale (OFS), the government has sold 3.18% stake in Coal India which will fetch about Rs5,300 crore to the exchequer.
The government had planned to sell over 18.62 crore shares or 3% in Coal India Ltd (CIL) at a floor price of Rs266 apiece.
On top of the 3% stake sale, the government also had an option to retain an over-subscription (green shoe option) of another 6% stake in the CIL OFS.
The government has exercised green shoe option to the extent of 0.18% in case of Coal India, an official said. Shares of Coal India closed at Rs261.10, down 1.90% over previous close.
The government held 78.32% stake in Coal India at the end of September. The government has already raised over Rs10,028 crore through PSU stake sale, including by way of follow on offer of Bharat-22 ETF, and initial public offering of four PSUs — RITES, IRCON, Mishra Dhatu Nigam Ltd (MIDHANI) and Garden Reach Shipbuilders.
The stake sale in Coal India would help the government move forward towards the Rs 80,000 crore disinvestment target in current fiscal.
The government had last sold 10% stake in CIL through an OFS in January 2015. It had then collected up about Rs23,000 crore.
Source: Mint