India plans to sell up to a 2% stake in Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) through an offer for sale (OFS), a move expected to raise more than Rs 2,300 crore and advance the Centre’s FY27 disinvestment programme. The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) set a floor price of Rs 91 per share and said the government will initially divest 1% equity, retaining an option to sell an additional 1% via a greenshoe if investor demand is strong.
The offer covers 26.13 crore shares, equivalent to up to 2% of IRFC’s equity capital; at the floor price the sale would generate in excess of Rs 2,300 crore for the exchequer. DIPAM said the OFS will open for non-retail investors on Wednesday and for retail investors on Thursday. DIPAM Secretary Arunish Chawla announced the timetable on X, noting the government’s plan to sell 1% with a further 1% available as an overallotment option.
The floor price represents a nearly 7.8% discount to IRFC’s closing price of Rs 98.37 on the BSE the previous trading day. Shares had fallen about 2.5% ahead of the announcement. The discount and the greenshoe structure are designed to attract participation while giving the government flexibility to increase supply if demand is strong.
The stake sale is part of a broader effort to raise non-tax revenue and boost public shareholding in state firms. In the Union Budget for FY27 the Centre set a disinvestment and asset-monetisation target of Rs 80,000 crore. So far in the current fiscal year, official data show the government has raised around Rs 16,480 crore through minority stake sales in public sector enterprises, banks and insurers. Earlier this month the Centre completed a 5% stake sale in General Insurance Corporation of India, which drew strong investor interest.
This is not the government’s first attempt to trim its holding in IRFC. In February it proposed selling up to 4% but managed to offload only 1.71%, leaving the Centre with an 84.65% stake. IRFC, a Navratna public sector undertaking under the Ministry of Railways established in 1986, is the principal financing vehicle for Indian Railways and is registered with the Reserve Bank of India as a systemically important non-deposit-taking non-banking financial company and as an infrastructure finance company.
Original Source: https://www.firstpost.com/business/india-sell-2-percent-stake-irfc-raise-rs-2300-crore-ofs-government-disinvestment-14025563.html
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Publish Date: 2026-06-24 06:23:00
