Bharat-22 ETF gets bids for Rs12,500 crore so far

New Delhi: The second tranche of Bharat-22 ETF was oversubscribed on the final day of offering, with the issue garnering subscription to the tune of Rs12,500 crore.

Through the Bharat-22 Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), comprising shares of 22 companies, the government had targeted to mop up Rs6,000 crore with a green-shoe option of another Rs2,400 crore.

Subscription has come in for over 2 times of the base issue size of Rs6,000 crore. The total bids that has come in so far is for Rs12,500 crore and one lakh applications have come in, people familiar with the matter said.

The government is likely to exercise the green-shoe option to retain the additional Rs2,400 crore worth bids received.

The government had on 19 June launched the follow-on fund offer (FFO) of Bharat-22 ETF, which is managed by ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund.

On the first day of the issuance, anchor investors put in bids worth Rs5,163 crore, which was 3.44 times the portion reserved for them. The state-owned companies that are part of the ETF 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 the new fund offer (NFO) of 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 Rs32,000 crore, although the government retained only Rs14,500 crore. The government plans to raise Rs80,000 crore in the current fiscal from disinvestment, lower than over Rs1 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 Rs460 crore to the exchequer.