MUMBAI (Reuters) - The government's sale of a 5 percent stake in Coal India Ltd was fully covered by 2.33 p.m. on Friday, data from stock exchanges showed. The offering has a green shoe option, or provision to sell an additional stake of 5 percent.
Investors bid for 328.7 million shares of Coal Indian versus the base issue size of 315.8 million shares, the data showed. Bidding for the shares will end at 3.30 p.m.
The government is looking to raise up to $3.7 billion from the stake sale, which will make it the biggest ever equity offering in the Indian market, as part of an ambitious divestment programme.
The government has budgeted to raise $10 billion by selling small stakes in state-run firms in this fiscal year. So far it has managed to raise a little more than $300 million.
(Reporting by Sumeet Chatterjee and Himank Sharma)