Govt to sell up to 1.5% stake in ONGC to raise Rs 3,000 cr

The Offer For Sale by the govt will be open on March 30 and 31, says ONGC; the floor price for the OFS has been set at Rs 159 per share

The government will this week sell up to 1.5 per cent of its stake in the country's top oil and gas producer ONGC to raise about Rs 3,000 crore.

The Offer For Sale (OFS) by the government will be open on March 30 and 31, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) said in a stock exchange filing on Tuesday.

"The promoter (the government) proposes to sell up to 94,352,094 equity shares of the company, (representing 0.75 per cent of the total paid-up equity share capital of the company) on March 30, 2022 (to non-retail investors) and on March 31, 2022 (to retail investors) with an option to additionally sell 94,352,094 equity shares (in case of oversubscription)," it said.

The floor price for the OFS has been set at Rs 159 per share.

This price is at a 7 per cent discount to the Rs 171.05 stock closing price of ONGC on the BSE on Tuesday.

The government owns a 60.41 per cent stake in ONGC which produces half of India's oil and gas.

In the OFS, a minimum of 25 per cent of the shares are reserved for mutual funds and insurance companies while 10 per cent earmarked for retail investors.

Retail investors are defined as an individual investor who bids for not more than 2 lakh shares.

ONGC employees can apply for equity shares worth up to Rs 5 lakh each, the filing said, adding that 0.075 per cent of equity shares sold in the OFS would be offered to eligible employees at the cut-off price.