Govt to sell up to 7% stake in HUDCO through an offer for sale this week

The Indian government will sell up to a 7% stake in state-run housing finance company, Housing and Urban Development Corp., through an offer for sale this week, according to a filing with the stock exchange.

The plan includes selling 3.5% of the company, with an option to sell an additional 3.5% if the offer is oversubscribed.

The floor price for the sale has been set at 79 rupees a share, a discount of about 12% to the stock's closing price on Tuesday.

The Indian government owns 81.81% in the housing finance company, and the sale of a 7% stake may help it to raise about 11 billion rupees ($132.20 million).

The federal government has so far garnered 69.5 billion rupees by selling shares in public sector units in 2023/24, compared with a target of 510 billion rupees.

The stake sale will help the government to achieve the minimum public shareholding norm set out by the capital market regulator, the exchange filing said.

Minimum public shareholding norms require listed companies to maintain a public float of at least 25%.

($1 = 83.2173 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Nikunj Ohri; editing by Christina Fincher and Sharon Singleton)