The Centre is set to sell a 5 per cent stake in the country’s largest power producer, NTPC, on Tuesday, through the revamped offer-for-sale (OFS) mechanism.
At the floor price of ₹122, the sale is expected to bring in around ₹5,028 crore for the government, making it the second-largest PSU disinvestment in fiscal 2015-16. This is the fourth disinvestment of the public sector power producer since 2004. In an official communication, the Centre said it will sell 41.22 crore shares in NTPC Ltd, or 5 per cent of its shareholding, on Tuesday.
Only non-retail investors will be permitted to place their bids on the first day of the OFS through stock exchanges, while retail investors can bid on the second. However, non-retail investors who have placed their bids on the first day will be permitted to revise their bids on the second day.
Retail investors will be offered a 5 per cent discount.
After the sale, the government’s stake in NTPC is expected to come down to 69.96 per cent from 74.96 per cent currently.
The NTPC stake sale could be the last major disinvestment this fiscal. The Centre has this year raised ₹13,340 crore from stake sales in half a dozen PSUs, including Engineers India Ltd, Indian Oil Corporation, Power Finance Corporation, and Rural Electrification Corporation.
Budget target The Budget had set a target of ₹69,500 crore from disinvestment proceeds, including ₹41,000 crore from minority stake sales and ₹28,500 crore from strategic stake sales.
NTPC reported a 19 per cent drop in net profit for the third quarter of 2015-16 at ₹2,492.87 crore compared with ₹ 3,074 crore in the same quarter last year. Its net revenue for the quarter stood at ₹17,413.31 crore (₹18,857 crore).