Bharat-22 ETF Oversubscribed, Investors Put In Bids Worth Rs 12,500 Crore So Far

The second tranche of Bharat-22 ETF was oversubscribed on the final day of offering, with the issue garnering subscription to the tune of Rs 12,500 crore.

Through the Bharat-22 Exchange Traded Fund, comprising shares of 22 companies, the government had targeted to mop up Rs 6,000 crore with a greenshoe option of another Rs 2,400 crore.

Subscription has come in for over two times the base issue size of Rs 6,000 crore. The total bids that have come in so far is for Rs 12,500 crore and one lakh applications have come in, market sources said. The government is likely to exercise the greenshoe option to retain the additional Rs 2,400 crore worth bids received.

The government had on June 19 launched the follow-on fund offer 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 Rs 5,163 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 of Bharat-22 ETF comprising shares of 22 companies, including public sector undertakings, public sector banks, ITC, Axis Bank and L&T. The fund had garnered bids to the tune of Rs 32,000 crore, although the government retained only Rs 14,500 crore.

The government plans to raise Rs 80,000 crore in the current fiscal from disinvestment, lower than over Rs 1 lakh crore raised last year.

Besides, the initial public offering 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 Rs 460 crore to the exchequer.