Govt plans 2nd tranche of Bharat-22 ETF; sets target of raising Rs 800 bn

ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, which is managing the ETF, filed draft papers for a follow-on offer with Sebi

The government plans to hit the market with the follow-on offer of Bharat-22 ETF after the blockbuster performance in the first tranche, with ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund filing draft papers for the second round.

The government had raised Rs 145 billion through the first tranche of Bharat-22 Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), which comprises 22 companies, in November last year.

ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, which is managing the ETF, filed draft papers for a follow-on offer with markets regulator Sebi last week, as per the documents filed with the markets watchdog.

This will be the first ETF offering in the current fiscal, wherein the government has set the target of Rs 800 billion through the PSU disinvestment.

The index is a unique blend of shares of key Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs), Public Sector Banks (PSBs) as also government shares in blue chip private companies like Larsen & Toubro (L&T), Axis Bank and ITC.

The shares of the government companies represent six core sectors of the economy - Finance, Industry, Energy, Utilities, Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) and Basic Materials, making the Index broad-based and diversified.

State-owned companies or PSUs that are part of the new Bharat ETF 22 include ONGC, IOC, SBI, BPCL, Coal India and Nalco.

The other CPSEs on the list are Bharat Electronics, Engineers India, NBCC, NTPC, NHPC, SJVNL, GAIL, PGCIL and NLC India. Only three public sector banks -- SBI, Indian Bank and Bank of Baroda -- figure in the Bharat-22 index.