BCCL IPO will boost confidence as Coal India weighs more subsidiary listing: CMD

Strong investor response to the initial public offering of Bharat Coking Coal Limited has boosted confidence in CIL and provided positive momentum as the company evaluates the listing of its other subsidiaries, Chairman-cum-Managing Director B Sairam said.

The IPO of Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL), an arm of Coal India Ltd (CIL), was fully subscribed within minutes of opening for bidding on January 9.

“As directed by the government, we will step into the market and look forward to unlocking the true potential of our companies. We will closely study and evaluate the market dynamics to list the companies,” Sairam told PTI in an interview.

BCCL is scheduled to list on the stock markets on Monday.

Referring to the BCCL IPO issue, Sairam said “the response has been encouraging and has strengthened confidence among miners”.

“With an overwhelming response, BCCL’s IPO was fully subscribed within minutes of opening. Strong investor interest continued unabated till the offer closed, with the issue oversubscribed 146 times. It is a real confidence booster for CIL,” the CIL chief told PTI.

Sairam said this experience will be useful as Coal India considers future listings, while valuation and market conditions will be key considerations.

“For any company, it is a good idea to look at its market valuation. Triggered by it (the BCCL IPO), we expect a similar response for our other companies as well,” he added.

The government is encouraging Coal India to unlock value through listing its subsidiaries as part of the Centre’s broader public sector reform agenda.

The coal behemoth has eight wholly-owned subsidiaries, seven of which are coal producing companies.

Apart from the listing of its coking coal arm, CIL is accelerating the market entry of other key subsidiaries.

Coal India’s consultancy and technical arm Central Mine Planning and Design Institute Ltd (CMPDI) has already filed its draft red herring prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Board of India.

The proposed IPO is an offer for sale of up to 7.14 crore equity shares, representing a 10 per cent stake divestment by CIL, and is expected to be completed by March 2026.

The CIL board has also given in-principle approval for the listing of Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) and South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL), its two largest manufacturing subsidiaries.

Their listing is targeted for the financial year 2026-27 following a specific directive from the Ministry of Coal.

Coal India, which accounts for over 80 percent of India’s domestic coal production, has multiple producing and non-producing subsidiaries.

Meanwhile, BCCL’s much-anticipated market debut, its original listing date has been rescheduled from January 16 to January 19.

The decision to postpone the listing comes in the wake of municipal corporation elections in Maharashtra, where both the BSE and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) are headquartered.