NTPC offer subscribed 1.7 times; nets Rs11,430 cr

The government, in a bright spot amid its sagging finances and failing disinvestment programme, hit its divestment target in the National Thermal Power Corp, the country's biggest power producer, on Thursday.

The initial public offer was oversubscribed 1.7 times, with investors like the state-owned Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), several mutual funds, and offshore portfolio managers paying Rs11,430 crore.

The investors bid for 133 crore shares as against the 78.32 crore on offer. It was the third-biggest equity offering on Dalal Street after state-owned Coal India Ltd and Anil Ambani's Reliance Power Ltd.

Foreign funds such as the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, HSBC Halbis, Invesco, Janus and Eastspring Investment bought shares. Local institutions that put in bids, apart from LIC, included Reliance Mutual Fund, ICICI Prudential, SBI Mutual Fund and Birla Mutual Fund.

The exact figures are not yet available as the investors have gone through various brokers; but LIC is said to have put in the maximum at about Rs3,000 crore.

Disinvestment secretary Ravi Mathur said the government was satisfied with the response to the NTPC offer. He confirmed there was good participation from foreign institutional investors. "One FII had bid for 1,000 crore shares in early hours of trade. More order inflows came in towards the end of the day. Individually, FIIs have put in $50-100 million," he said.