IRCTC IPO opens on September 30, price band fixed at Rs 315-320 per share

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The Initial Public Offering (IPO) of state-owned Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) will open for subscription on Monday (September 30) and close on Thursday (October 3). The initial public offering has been set by the IRCTC at Rs 315-320 per share. A discount of Rs 10 per share will be given to retail investors and eligible employees, which means the effective price band of IRCTC IPO for retail and eligible employees is Rs 305-310 per share. It is to be noted that IRCTC will not receive any proceeds from the offer as it is an offer for sale issue and all proceeds will go to the selling shareholder.

The IRCTC's IPO comprises of an offer for sale of 2 crore shares, which represents 12.50 percent of total paid-up equity by the Ministry of Railways. An additional employee reservation portion of 1.6 lakh shares is also there which makes the total offer size to 12.6 percent of total paid-up equity. It is expected that the government would raise around Rs 628- Rs 638 crore at the aforementioned price band. The minimum bid lot is 40 equity shares and in multiples of 40 equity shares thereafter. The tentative date of allotment of IRCTC shares is October 9 and it is expected that shares will get listed on both BSE and NSE on October 14.

IRCTC was established in 1999 as a subsidiary of Indian Railways and in 2008 it was given the rank of a Miniratna company. IRCTC provides many services, including online booking, catering and tourism. The IRCTC also sells bottled mineral water 'Neer' on trains and at different railway stations in the country. Besides train ticket, the IRCTC also sells air, hotel and cruise tickets.