Bharat-22 ETF gets bids for Rs 8,400 cr so far

The second tranche of Bharat-22 ETF offering saw a good response from investors, with the issue garnering subscription to the tune of Rs 8,400 crore so far.

The government aims to mop up Rs 6,000 crore with a green shoe option of raising another Rs 2,400 crore through the ETF, which is managed by ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund.

Subscription has come in for 1.5 times of the base issue size of Rs 6,000 crore. The total bids that has come in so far are for Rs 8,400 crore, a source said.

The government is likely to exercise the green-shoe option to retain the additional Rs 2,400 crore worth bids received.

The government had on June 19 launched the follow-on fund offer (FFO) of Bharat-22 Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), comprising shares of 22 companies.

On the first day of the Bharat-22 ETF issuance, anchor investors put in bids worth Rs 5,163 crore. This was 3.44 times the portion reserved for them.

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

The other central public sector enterprises 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 feature in the Bharat-22 index.

The government had in November last year launched Bharat-22 ETF comprising shares of 22 companies, including public sector undertakings (PSUs), public sector banks, ITC, Axis Bank and L&T.

The fund had garnered bids to the tune of Rs 32,000 crore, although the government retained only Rs 14,500 crore.

The government plans to raise Rs 80,000 crore in the current fiscal from disinvestment, lower than over Rs 1 lakh crore raised last year.

Besides, the initial public offering (IPO) of railway consultancy firm RITES got subscribed nearly 67 times so far on the final day of issuance. The IPO is expected to fetch over Rs 460 crore to the exchequer.