NHPC Stake Sale: Opens to 41 lakh bids from retail investors; stock down nearly 2%

The government's 11.36% stake sale in NHPC opened for bidding by retail investors on Thursday morning with a subscription of over 41.02 lakh shares in early hours of trade.

However, the NHPC stock slipped below the floor price of Rs 21.75 in a weak market and was trading 1.86% down at Rs 21.15 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

The government is selling over 125.76 crore shares, or 11.36% stake, in NHPC at a floor price of Rs 21.75. Of this, over 100.61 crore shares were offered to institutional investors on Wednesday.

Bidding for the remaining over 25.15 crore shares began on Thursday morning. According to the National Stock Exchange (NSE) data, subscription for over 41.02 lakh shares came in at 10:35 hours. Bidding by retail investors would continue till 15:30 hours.

A 5% additional discount is being offered to retail investors, who are classified as those bidding for shares worth up to Rs 2 lakh.

At the floor price of Rs 21.75, the sale of over 125.76 crore shares would fetch Rs 2,700 crore to the exchequer.

Institutional investors, including foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and insurance companies, kick-started the NHPC stake sale on Wednesday, with the portion offered to them getting over-subscribed by 1.58 times. Total bids worth Rs 3,410 crore came in from these buyers.

NHPC is the first disinvestment by the government in the current fiscal, which has set a target of Rs 56,500 crore through selling shares and privatisation of public sector undertakings (PSUs).

The government's share sale will bring down its shareholding in NHPC to 74.6% from 85.96%. This will help the company comply with the minimum 25% free-float requirements.

NHPC, under the administrative control of the Power Ministry, generates power through conventional as well as non-conventional sources.

At 12:03 hours, the shares of NHPC were trading down 1.86% or Rs 0.40 to Rs 21.15 per scrip on the BSE.