Bharat 22 ETF: Govt raises Rs 14,500 cr; fund sees Rs 32,000 cr bids, so far Rs 52,000 cr garnered via divestment

New Delhi: The government has raised Rs 14,500 crore through the Bharat-22 Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), comprising 22 companies, a top official said on Monday. “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 one-third of the money. The portion reserved for retail investors was subscribed 1.45 times; retirement funds – 1.50 times and NIIs and QIBs – 7 times.  With this, the government has raised Rs 52,500 crore through disinvestment in the current fiscal, including listing of insurance PSUs. Last week the portion reserved for anchor investors was subscribed six times amounting to Rs 12,000 crore. ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund managed Bharat-22 ETF’s new fund offer (NFO) had an initial issue size of over Rs 8,000 crore. As much as 25 percent of total issue size, or Rs 2,000 crore, was reserved for anchor investors who put in bids worth about Rs 12,000 crore. LIC, Bank of India, SBI Pension Fund, EPFO and HDFC Ergo Insurance are among those who have put in bids. “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. The issue opened for subscription for retail investors from November 15-17. This Index is a unique blend of shares of key 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. 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. The state-owned companies or 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.