Institutions lap up 46 cr NTPC shares, put in Rs 7,800 cr bids

The government today sold 46.35 crore shares in NTPC for about Rs 7,800 crore on the opening day of its disinvestment in the country's largest power producer.
As many as 32.98 crore shares were offered to institutional buyers on the first day of the offer for sale (OFS), and the portion was over-subscribed 1.41 times.
The government has decided to retain the entire over- subscription.
At the floor price of Rs 168, the bid for 46.35 crore shares is worth Rs 7,790 crore.
Retail investors, who will be offered 5 per cent discount, can bid for shares tomorrow. A total of 8.24 crore shares have been reserved for retail investors, with an option to retain an over-subscription of a similar quantity.

The government had planned to sell over 41.22 crore shares, or 5 per cent holding, through the two-day OFS, with an option to retain a similar portion in case of over- subscription.

Shares of NTPC closed at Rs 168.50, down 2.80 per cent over the previous close on the BSE.
The government has so far this fiscal raised over Rs 8,800 crore through disinvestment in six companies, including selling stake in L&T through Specified Undertaking of Unit Trust of India (SUUTI), and one share buyback.
This is against Rs 72,500 crore targeted to be raised in 2017-18 through stake sale in PSUs.

The total sum includes Rs 46,500 crore from minority stake sale, Rs 15,000 crore from strategic disinvestment and Rs 11,000 crore from listing of PSU insurance companies.