The government today raised Rs 14,500 crore through the sale of blue-chip shares of PSUs via its newest exchange traded fund (ETF), Bharat-22, which received bids of about Rs 32,000 crore -- a mutual fund record.
With this, the government has raised Rs 52,500 crore in the current fiscal through PSU disinvestment, including from listing of PSU insurance companies.
The government had launched the Bharat-22 ETF in August and had planned to raise Rs 8,000 crore, with an option to retain over-subscription. The first tranche of the new fund offer opened for retail investors on November 15 and closed on November 17.
"We have decided to retain Rs 14,500 crore of the total subscription that has come in for Bharat-22 ETF," Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) Secretary Neeraj Gupta said.
The ETF saw bids of nearly Rs 32,000 crore coming in, with FIIs bidding for a third of the amount.
"This is the highest ever NFO collection in the history of mutual funds in India. The total issue was subscribed around 4 times," Gupta said.
The portion reserved for retail investors was subscribed 1.45 times; retirement funds -- 1.50 times and NIIs and QIBs -- 7 times.
Anchor investors, for whom the share sale opened for subscription on November 14, subscribed 6.1 times of their portion amounting to Rs 12,000 crore.
LIC, Bank of India, SBI Pension Fund, EPFO and HDFC Ergo Insurance are among those who have put in bids.
ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund managed Bharat-22 ETF's new fund offer (NFO) had an initial issue size of over Rs 8,000 crore.
"During the three days reserved for non-anchor investors, we witnessed an overwhelming response from all investors, particularly retail segment. In due course, the ETF will be listed," ICICI Prudential AMC MD and CEO Nimesh Shah said.
Bharat-22 ETF comprises shares of central public sector enterprises (CPSEs), public sector banks (PSBs) as also government shares in blue chip private companies like Larsen & Toubro (L&T), Axis Bank and ITC.
PSUs that are part of the new Bharat ETF 22 include ONGC, IOC, SBI, BPCL, Coal India and Nalco.
The other CPSEs 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 -- figure in the Bharat-22 index.
The shares of the government companies represent six core sectors of the economy - Finance, Industry, Energy, Utilities, Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) and Basic Materials, making the Index broad-based and diversified.
The government has set an ambitious target of raising Rs 72,500 crore for disinvestment in the current fiscal. Of this, Rs 46,500 crore is to be raised through minority stake sale in PSU and Rs 15,000 crore from strategic sale. Another Rs 11,000 crore is to come from listing of insurance companies.
With Rs 52,500 crore coming in from disinvestment so far this fiscal, the government has exceeded Rs 45,500 crore raised through PSU stake sale last fiscal.
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