Bharat Coking Coal's initial public offering opened to exceptional investor response, achieving full subscription within just 30 minutes of launch. The ₹1,071 crore issue reached 1.23 times oversubscription as investors bid for nearly 42.61 crore shares against the total offer size of 34.69 crore shares.

Strong Early Subscription Across Categories

The IPO demonstrated robust demand across different investor segments by 10:30 AM on Day 1. The subscription pattern revealed strong confidence from retail and institutional participants.

The retail segment showed healthy participation with 1.66 times subscription, reflecting solid interest from small investors. Non-institutional investors demonstrated even stronger confidence, subscribing 2.13 times against available shares. The QIB portion received minimal early bids at just 1% of allocated shares, which is typical as institutional investors usually submit bids closer to the subscription period's end.

Grey Market Premium Indicates Strong Listing Expectations

The IPO is currently trading at a grey market premium of ₹9.40, representing approximately 41% over the upper price band of ₹23. This translates to an estimated listing price of around ₹32.40 per share, reflecting positive market sentiment.

Issue Structure and Timeline

The IPO represents a complete offer for sale by Coal India with no fresh issue component. The subscription period runs until January 13, with shares proposed for listing on both NSE and BSE.

Company Profile and Market Position

Bharat Coking Coal holds a dominant position as India's largest coking coal producer, accounting for approximately 58.5% of domestic coking coal production in FY25. The company operates 34 mines strategically located in Jharia coalfields of Jharkhand and Raniganj coalfields of West Bengal.

Financial Performance and Valuation

The company reported revenue of ₹13,803.00 million in FY25 with consolidated profit of ₹1,564.00 million. At the upper price band, the company is valued at approximately 8.60 times FY25 earnings and 6.40 times EV/EBITDA based on post-issue capital.

Brokerage Recommendations

Anand Rathi Research considers the company fairly valued at 8.64 times P/E based on FY25 earnings, recommending subscription for listing gains given consistent performance and strong financial metrics. SBI Securities also recommends subscription at the cut-off price, highlighting the company's market leadership and substantial reserve base.

IDBI Capital Markets & Securities Limited and ICICI Securities Limited serve as book-running lead managers, while KFin Technologies Limited acts as the registrar to the issue.

Bharat Coking Coal's initial public offering demonstrated strong investor appetite on the first day of bidding, with the issue subscribed 2.12 times by 11:03 am on Friday, January 9. The robust response was primarily driven by retail and non-institutional investors, indicating significant interest in the Coal India subsidiary's public debut.

Strong Retail and NII Participation

The subscription data revealed impressive demand across key investor categories:

Within the NII segment, bids in the ₹2-10 lakh category stood out with a 4.65 times subscription, while bids above ₹10 lakh were subscribed 2.74 times. The QIB portion remained muted at about 1 percent, following the typical pattern of institutional bidding towards the close of the issue.

IPO Structure and Pricing

Bharat Coking Coal's ₹1,071.11 crore public issue is entirely an offer for sale of 46.57 crore equity shares by promoter Coal India, priced in a band of ₹21-23 per share. As a pure OFS, Bharat Coking Coal will not receive any proceeds from the IPO, with the entire amount accruing to the selling shareholder.

The strength of early demand was evident soon after the issue opened, with the IPO getting fully subscribed within approximately 25 minutes of opening, driven largely by retail and non-institutional bids.

Anchor Investor Response

Ahead of the public issue, the company successfully raised ₹273.13 crore from anchor investors on January 8 by allotting 11.87 crore equity shares at ₹23 per share. The anchor investor composition included:

• Life Insurance Corporation of India - Largest anchor investor
• Nippon Life India Mutual Fund
• Bandhan Mutual Fund

Timeline and Management

The IPO opened for public subscription on January 9 and will close on January 13. Key upcoming dates include:

IDBI Capital Markets Services and ICICI Securities serve as the book-running lead managers to the issue, while KFin Technologies acts as the registrar. Market participants view the strong response as indicative of expectations for value unlocking from the listing, representing Coal India's strategy to unlock embedded value through its subsidiary's public offering.