New Delhi, Nov 28 : The central government on Tuesday transferred its shares in NLC India worth Rs 39 crore to Bharat 22 Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) as per an announcement earlier this year as part of its disinvestment programme, according to a company regulatory filing.
NLC India, formerly Neyveli Lignite Corp, is engaged in mining of lignite and generation of power through lignite-based thermal power plants.
"The Ministry of Coal, acting for and on behalf of the President of India, has transferred 39,74,665 equity shares to 'Bharat 22 ETF' at a value of Rs 39,39,98,737, which is 0.26 per cent of the company's total equity share capital," NLC India said in a stock exchange filing.
Following the transfer, the shareholding of the President is 128,46,03,208 shares, which is 84.04 per cent of the company equity shares, it said.
With the initial issue size of Rs 8,000 crore, Bharat 22 ETF opened for institutional investors on November 14, for retail investors on November 15, and closed on November 17.
The government managed to raise Rs 14,500 crore through the sale of shares in companies run by it through the Bharat 22 ETF, which received bids of about Rs 32,000 crore.
The ETF comprises 22 companies, or investments, from among central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) and public sector banks (PSBs).
It is well diversified with investments across six core sectors, including industrials, finance, utilities, energy, FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) and basic material.
No sector crosses the 20 per cent sectoral capping and there is a stock capping of 15 per cent.
An ETF is a traded security that tracks an underlying asset like a group of companies or commodity. The government had earlier approved the alternative mechanism through the ETF route to divest its stake in CPSEs.
The government has raised Rs 52,500 crore in the current fiscal through public sector disinvestment, including from listing of insurance companies.
The government had raised Rs 8,500 crore through the CPSE ETF route in the last fiscal.
Apart from CPSEs and PSBs, Bharat 22 also includes the government's strategic holding in Axis Bank, ITC and L&T held through the Specified Undertaking of Unit Trust of India.
The Bharat 22 Index will be rebalanced annually. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company was the ETF Manager and Asia Index Pvt Ltd was the Index Provider.
In his budget speech of 2017-18, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had promised to use ETF as a vehicle for further disinvestment of shares.
The Centre has a disinvestment target of Rs 72,500 crore for the current fiscal, of which Rs 46,500 crore is planned to be raised through disinvestment, while Rs 15,000 crore is the target in the case of strategic disinvestment that involves surrender of government's majority control of the company.
