On the first day of India government’s disinvestment
programme, share sales of SAIL was subscribed more than two times, fetching the
exchequer Rs 1,715 crore.
The first disinvestment offering in the ongoing
financial year saw retail investors lapping up Steel Authority of India's sale
shares taking the overall subscription to 2.08 times (42.93 crore shares) of the
20.65 crore shares on offer.
Government's stake in SAIL will come down to 75 per
cent pursuant to this public issue, helping the state-run steel major to meet
market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi) listing norms.
The government has set a target to raise Rs 43,425
crore through stake sales in various PSU firms during the 2014-15 fiscal in a
bid to plug the fiscal deficit.
The Offer For Sale (OFS) got bids for 42.93 crore
aggregating to over Rs 3,400 crore but with the government not opting for the
green-shoe option, only Rs 1,715 crore would come to the exchequer.
The offering for SAIL shares also received a robust
response from retail investors, to whom the government has offered a five per
cent price discount and has reserved 10 per cent or over 2 crore shares for
them.
2.06 crore shares, or 10 per cent, which were
earmarked for retail investors were subscribed 2.66 times, while the general
category shares were subscribed 2.01 times, according to data released by the
Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
A successful start to the ambitious disinvestment
programme will help government contain the fiscal deficit to 4.1 per cent of
the gross domestic product (GDP) in the current financial year.
The government has lined up a host of state-run
firms to pare holdings - including a 5 per cent stake sale in ONGC, 10 per cent
in Coal India (CIL) and 11.36 per cent in NHPC.
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