NEW DELHI: The government expects to raise Rs 750 crore through disinvestment of 5 per cent of paid-up equity shares of NLC India (NLCIL, formerly Neyveli Lignite Corporation) through Offer for Sale. The two-day OFS opened on Wednesday for subscription by institutional investors, who put in bids worth over Rs 1,000 crore. “The government approved disinvestment of 3 per cent equity shares of NLCIL as base offer, with an option to retain oversubscription up-to additional 2 per cent equity shares,” the finance ministry said in a statement.
The statement added that trading for non-retail portion took place on 25th October, 2017 at a floor price of Rs 94. “Against the offer size of 3.67 crore, bids were received for 11.63 crore shares, resulting in over subscription by 3.19 times. The government accordingly decided to retain the over-subscription by revising the total offer size from 3 per cent to 5 per cent of equity shares.”
Trading for the retail category will take place on Thursday. Retail investors are offered a discount of 3.5 per cent over the cutoff price for non-retail category. Post-disinvestment, the government’s stake in NLC will come down to 84.32 per cent. The government has already raised over Rs 19,000 crore through minority stake sale in PSUs in the current fiscal. It plans to raise Rs 72,500 crore in FY18 through PSU stake sale, including strategic sale and listing of insurance PSUs. Economic affairs secretary Subhash Chandra Garg had said on Tuesday the government has already garnered Rs 30,000 crore and might exceed the disinvestment target for 2017-18.