Bharat Coking Coal IPO: LIC, Societe Generale among Investors in Rs 273 Crore Anchor Round

A day before Bharat Coking Coal opened its IPO, anchor investors raised Rs. 273 crore raised, indicating strong institutional interest in the country’s largest coking coal producer. The company said it has paid anchor investors Rs. 11.88 crore equity shares were allotted at a price of 23, which is the upper end of the IPO price band.

Anchor Book was fully subscribed, setting a positive tone for the public issue, which opened for subscription on 9 January.

Several marquee global and local organizations participated in the anchor round. These include Life Insurance Corporation, Societe Generale, Copthal Mauritius Investment Limited, Citrine Fund, M7 Global Fund PCC – ASAS Global Opportunities Fund, Maybank Securities and Rajasthan Global Securities.

Domestic mutual funds also showed interest in the issue. Of the total shares allotted to anchor investors, about 7.17 crore equity shares were allotted to three domestic mutual funds across eight schemes. These include UTI Dividend Yield Fund and other schemes of UTI Mutual Fund, Nippon India Mutual Fund through its small-cap fund and Bandhan Mutual Fund through its small-cap scheme.

The successful anchor round comes at a time when PSU IPOs are attracting renewed investor interest, helped by the government’s push to unlock value through strong balance sheets, stable cash flows and listing of subsidiaries.

Bharat Coking Coal is a wholly owned subsidiary of Coal India and is India’s largest producer of coking coal. In FY25, the company accounted for about 58.5% of the country’s domestic coking coal production. It has an estimated coking coal reserve of 7.91 billion tonnes, making it the only meaningful domestic source of prime coking coal, which is important for steel production.

The company operates 34 mines at Jharia Coalfield in Jharkhand and Raniganj Coalfield in West Bengal. It also operates multiple coking coal washeries and is expanding its washing capacity, which is aimed at improving coal quality and feel. Backed by Coal India’s scale and technical expertise, Bharat Coking Coal plays a strategic role in reducing India’s dependence on imported coking coal.

The Bharat Coking Coal IPO will open for public subscription on January 9 and close on January 13. The issue size is around Rs. 1,071 crore and is entirely an offer for sale by Coal India, which will reduce its 10% stake in the subsidiary.

The price band per share is Rs. 21-23 have been decided, wherein the shares are proposed to be listed on NSE and BSE. Coal India will continue to hold a 90% stake in Bharat Coking Coal after the listing.