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IRFC sale raises ₹2,100 crore as retail investors pile in
The government's offer-for-sale of Indian Railway Finance Corporation drew strong retail demand, adding ₹2,084 crore to the fiscal disinvestment kitty. Total proceeds now hit ₹16,480 crore.
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The government raised about ₹2,100 crore from the sale of a minority stake in Indian Railway Finance Corporation. The offer-for-sale closed with strong retail participation, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management Secretary Arunish Chawla said in a post on X.
A total of 22.88 crore shares were sold across two trading days for an estimated ₹2,084 crore, he said, thanking investors for their participation. The government exercised the green shoe option Wednesday, enabling a 2% stake dilution in the Railway Ministry PSU.
The floor price was set at ₹91 per share, a 7.8% discount to Tuesday's closing price on the BSE. Shares of IRFC settled 0.8% lower at ₹91.78 on Thursday, meaning the discount absorbed most selling pressure in the first two sessions.
Before this deal, the government had sold minority stakes in five other state-owned companies, banks and insurers this fiscal year. Coal India contributed ₹5,542 crore, NHPC ₹4,357 crore and GIC ₹3,090 crore. Central Bank of India added ₹2,266 crore and NLC India ₹1,223 crore. Total disinvestment proceeds now stand at ₹16,480 crore.
The IRFC sale tests appetite for railway-linked paper after earlier bumper offers from Coal India and NHPC. The 7.8% discount and retail pick-up show the government can still clear inventory at reasonable valuations when it prices below the market. The pace of sales matters. Six offerings inside a year compress the pool of willing institutional buyers. Each new offer forces existing holders to reprice their positions.
The government's annual budget estimate for disinvestment remains far larger than the ₹16,480 crore collected so far. If the pipeline stays active, more discount-driven OFSs are likely in names where the state holds above 75% and the sector is liquid. Several other railway and energy PSUs fit that description.