Govt mobilises nearly Rs 2,100 crore via IRFC share sale

The government on Thursday said it has raised around Rs 2,100 crore from the share sale of state-owned Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC). The OFS for IRFC closed with an enthusiastic response from the retail investors, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) Secretary Arunish Chawla said in a post on X. "Combined with the institutional investors, 22.88 crore shares were sold to the minority shareholders over the two trading days for an estimated amount of Rs 2,084 crore. We thank all investors for their participation and for reposing their faith in us," he said. The government decided to exercise the green shoe option on Wednesday, allowing 2 per cent stake dilution in the public sector undertaking (PSU) of the Railway Ministry. The Department had fixed a floor price of Rs 91 per share, at a discount of 7.8 per cent over Tuesday's closing price of IRFC shares on the BSE. Shares of IRFC closed 0.8 per cent lower at Rs 91.78 on the BSE on Thursday. Prior to IRFC, the government has sold minority stakes in five other central public sector enterprises, banks and insurance companies, taking the total disinvestment proceeds to Rs 16,480 crore in the current fiscal. This includes Rs 5,542 crore from Coal India, Rs 4,357 crore from NHPC, Rs 3,090 crore from GIC, Rs 2,266 crore from Central Bank of India and Rs 1,223 crore from NLC India.