IRCTC to launch Rs645-cr IPO on 30 September
26 Sep 2019
Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), the catering and ticketing arm of Indian Railways, has come out with an initial public offer (IPO) of equity share worth Rs645 crore, to list itself in the market.
IRCTC is offering 20 million shares, which is equivalent to 12.50 per cent of the total paid-up equity of the ministry of railways, at a price band of Rs315-320,
The issue will open for subscription on 30 September and close on 3 October.
IRCTC will not receive any proceeds from the offer as it is an offer for sale issue and all proceeds will go to the selling shareholder.
Additionally, IRCTC is offering a total of 1.6 lakh shares to employees, which will take the total offer size to 12.6 per cent of total paid-up equity. The government is planning to raise as much as Rs645.12 crore at the price band. The minimum bid lot is 40 equity shares and in multiples of 40 thereafter.
The public offer comes after IRCTC launched its first train service – the Delhi to Lucknow Tejas Express- which has got good response from the passengers and the prospects of the operations of more trains getting privatised in future.
The new Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express will be the first train of Indian Railways that will be fully run by its subsidiary IRCTC. Enabling private participation in passenger train services is part of the Railways’ 100-day agenda.
Also, according to Mall, the ticketing revenue that has gone down after the removal of service charge in 2016, will go up after the service charge has been reintroduced from 1 September. IRCTC will also launch new train services from its platforms, the chairman stated.