NEW DELHI: In a bid to meet its divestment target this fiscal year, the Centre will launch the second tranche of the Bharat Bond ETF on July 14 with a goal of raising Rs 14,000 crore.
The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management has roped in Edelweiss Asset Management for the issue.
The exchange traded fund (ETF) will invest in constituents of the Nifty Bharat Bond Indices consisting of AAA-rated public sector companies and will raise an initial amount of Rs 2,000 crore with a green shoe option of Rs 6,000 crore in 2025 maturity, and a second one with initial amount of Rs 1,000 crore with a green shoe option of Rs 5,000 crore in 2031 maturity, based on market demand.
The Bharat Bond Fund of Funds (FOF), with similar maturities, will be launched for investors who do not have demat accounts.
The new fund offer will start from July 14 and end on July 17. DIPAM secretary Tuhin Kant Pandey also said that the government will also consider including AA-rated securities of public listed companies going forward, since it is looking at strengthening and deepening the market for the Bharat ETF portfolio.
The first series of the Bharat Bond ETF was launched in December 2019 and was highly successful, raising more than Rs 12,400 crore.
In the current fiscal year, the government has set a divestment target of Rs 2.10 lakh crore, out of which Rs 1.20 lakh crore is to come from CPSEs alone. However, these plans were disrupted due to the pandemic.
The department has also extended the bid deadlines for stake sales in both Air India and oil major BPCL.
“Many of our strategic transactions are moving forward. There was a little bit of disruption due to Covid-19 and extensions given in terms of EoI, but the government has clarified that we are very much on the same track of aggressively pursuing strategic disinvestment. More focus on that,” Pandey said.
Strategic stake sales being pursued right now include Air India, BEML, and Bharat Pumps Compressors.