Bharat Coking Coal IPO Day 3: Overall subscription at 145x, bids near ₹1.1 lakh crore

The initial public offering (IPO of Bharat Coking Coal Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Coal India Ltd., was subscribed 145 times so far on the third and final day of bidding. The issue received bids for 4,868.69 crore shares as against an offer size of 34.69 crore shares.

Demand was led by non institutional investors, with that portion subscribed over 254 times. The retail category saw subscription of 47 times, while qualified institutional buyers subscribed the issue 291 times.

The IPO, which opened for subscription on January 9, is set to close today, January 13.

Shares of Bharat Coking Coal were last seen commanding a grey market premium of ₹10.7. Based on the upper end of the IPO price band at ₹23, the stock is estimated to list around ₹33.7, implying a potential listing gain of about 46.52%.

That said, grey market premiums only reflect sentiment in the unlisted market and are known to be volatile.

Bharat Coking Coal has fixed a price band of ₹21 to ₹23 per share, with retail investors required to bid for a minimum lot of 600 shares. At the upper end of the price band, this translates into an investment of ₹13,800, making the issue relatively accessible compared to several recent large offerings.

Shares worth ₹107 crore have been reserved for eligible Coal India shareholders. Investors holding Coal India shares on or before January 1, 2026, are eligible to apply under the shareholder quota, while eligible employees are being offered a discount of ₹1 per share.

At the upper end of the price band, Bharat Coking Coal is expected to command a post issue market capitalisation of around ₹10,711 crore.

The IPO is entirely an offer-for-sale, through which Coal India is divesting a 10% stake in the company.

Following the listing, Coal India's stake will reduce to 90%, which remains well above the minimum public shareholding requirement.

In an interaction with CNBC-TV18, Manoj Kumar Agarwal, Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Coking Coal, said the company is currently producing 40.5 million tonnes and plans to scale this up to 56 million tonnes by 2030.

He said the growth will be driven by a combination of expanding open cast mines and reviving underground operations using modern technologies such as continuous miners.

The company is also monetising old and stopped underground mines and amalgamating smaller open cast mines into larger and more efficient operations to address space constraints.

Bharat Coking Coal is India's largest producer of coking coal, accounting for around 58.5% of domestic output in FY25. Its operations are primarily concentrated in the Jharia coalfield in Jharkhand and the Raniganj coalfield in West Bengal.

IDBI Capital and ICICI Securities are the book running lead managers to the issue.

The basis of allotment is expected to be finalised on January 14, with shares likely to be credited to investors' demat accounts on January 15. The stock is tentatively scheduled to list on the BSE and NSE on January 16.

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