Institutional investors bid more than Rs 2,380 crore in the Offer For Sale (OFS) of Central Bank of India shares on Friday, resulting in an oversubscription of over two times. The government is proposing to sell up to an 8 percent stake in the bank at a floor price of Rs 31 per share. If fully subscribed, this stake sale could yield Rs 2,456 crore for the government.
By the close of trading on Friday, institutional investors had submitted bids for approximately 76.86 crore shares, which is about 2.36 times the 32.58 crore shares available in the offer. At the set price of Rs 31.01 per share, non-retail investors contributed bids worth over Rs 2,380 crore.
The OFS includes a 4 percent greenshoe option, allowing the government to ultimately offload up to 8 percent of its stake. This marks the first OFS conducted by the government in the current fiscal year.
Retail investors will have the opportunity to participate in the share sale on Monday. The floor price of Rs 31 per share is set at an 8.58 percent discount compared to the stock’s closing price of Rs 33.91 on the BSE the previous Thursday. On the trading day of the OFS, Central Bank of India shares fell by 7.90 percent, closing at Rs 31.23 on the BSE.
The OFS is expected to assist the government in meeting the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI) minimum public shareholding requirement. SEBI mandates that all listed companies maintain a public shareholding of at least 25 percent. The government currently holds a stake of 89.27 percent; should it opt for the greenshoe option, its stake in the state-owned bank would decrease to 81.27 percent.
In the fiscal year 2025-26, the government raised funds through the OFS of two public sector banks: Bank of Maharashtra (Rs 2,624 crore) and Indian Overseas Bank (Rs 1,419 crore). The current fiscal goal is to raise Rs 80,000 crore through disinvestment and asset monetization, a significant increase from the Revised Estimates of Rs 33,837 crore for FY26.
Published on May 22, 2026.
