Government offers 3% stake in Hindustan Copper through OFS, floor price at Rs 514/share

Offer structure and terms

The Government of India is offering to divest a 3% equity stake in Hindustan Copper Limited through an Offer for Sale, with an option to sell an additional 3% under a green-shoe provision if the issue is oversubscribed. The announcement was made by Department of Investment and Public Asset Management Secretary Arunish Chawla in a post on X, as reported across multiple outlets including The Financial Express, The Hindu Business Line, Moneycontrol and The Times of India.

The OFS opens at a floor price of Rs 514 per share. Of the offer, 10% is reserved for retail investors, with an additional 25,000 shares set aside for eligible employees. According to The Times of India, the initial tranche covers a little over 2.9 crore shares, representing 3% of equity, with a matching optional block available if demand is strong. The same report stated that the offer opened on 24 August 2026, with retail investors able to bid on the second day, 26 August. DAM Capital Advisors, Emkay Global Financial Services and IDBI Capital Markets & Securities are managing the sale, as listed in the OFS notice cited by The Times of India.

A green-shoe option, as explained in coverage by Lokmat Times and The Tribune, allows the seller to offer additional shares when the initial portion is oversubscribed, serving as a stabilising mechanism. If the full 6% is sold, the government’s stake would fall from 66.14% to 60.14%, figures carried by The Financial Express, The Hindu Business Line and Outlook Business. The Times of India put the current holding at 66.1% and the post-sale level at a little over 60%.

Pricing and expected proceeds

Reports differ slightly on the reference closing price used to calculate the discount. The Economic Times and The Hindu Business Line described the Rs 514 floor as about a 10% discount to a Monday close of Rs 573.55 on the BSE. Lokmat Times and Moneycontrol cited an NSE Monday close near Rs 574, while Outlook Business put the discount at roughly 10.45% to an NSE close of Rs 574. ANI and The Tribune, drawing on Friday’s NSE close of Rs 567, calculated the floor as Rs 53, or about 9.3%, below that level. The Times of India reported an 11.6% discount to a BSE Monday close of Rs 573.6.

Several outlets, including The Hindu Business Line, Outlook Business and The Times of India, estimated that a full 6% sale could mobilise around Rs 3,000 crore.

Place in the disinvestment programme

The Economic Times framed the transaction as part of the government’s broader disinvestment programme and a step that will increase public shareholding in the company. The Times of India identified it as the tenth divestment offer of the current fiscal year and noted that it comes within three weeks of the LIC OFS, which raised Rs 31,515 crore and was described as the largest such offer in India. Outlook Business similarly called the Hindustan Copper sale the government’s second major stake sale of the month after the LIC transaction, which it said raised Rs 31,552 crore and helped the insurer meet minimum public shareholding norms.

The Financial Express and The Times of India both reported that the government has already raised Rs 52,716 crore in FY27 from stake sales, including those in LIC, Coal India and Central Bank of India, along with some SUUTI receipts. The Times of India added that the Budget set an Rs 80,000 crore divestment target for the year. The Financial Express linked the stepped-up pace of stake sales this financial year to efforts to boost revenues amidst the war in West Asia.

Company profile and recent performance

Hindustan Copper is a Schedule ‘A’ Mini-Ratna Category-I Central Public Sector Enterprise under the Ministry of Mines, according to The Hindu Business Line. Multiple reports, including The Economic Times and The Hindu Business Line, describe it as India’s only vertically integrated copper producer and the sole company holding operating mining leases for copper ore in the country. Its mines are located at Malanjkhand in Madhya Pradesh, Khetri in Rajasthan and Ghatsila in Jharkhand, with smelting and refining facilities at Ghatsila and Jhagadia and a continuous cast copper wire rod plant at Taloja, as detailed by The Hindu Business Line.

Financial results cited across outlets show recent strength. Lokmat Times reported FY 2025-26 revenue from operations of Rs 3,077.92 crore, up 48.6% year-on-year, and net profit of Rs 918.54 crore, up 97.5%. The Hindu Business Line gave FY 2025-26 profit before tax of Rs 1,232.73 crore on net sales of Rs 3,054.4 crore. For the June 2026 quarter, The Economic Times said profit before tax rose about 163% to Rs 472 crore and profit after tax also climbed about 163% to Rs 353 crore, while revenue from operations increased 81% to Rs 936 crore from Rs 516 crore a year earlier; Lokmat Times carried similar quarterly revenue and net-profit figures.

The Economic Times noted the company’s target of 12.2 million tonnes per annum of ore production capacity by 2030, along with work to reopen closed mines in Jharkhand, acquire new mines in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, and explore in Chile. The same report linked longer-term copper demand to electric vehicles, renewable energy, power infrastructure and data centres.

Outlook Business, citing Mint calculations and market data, reported that the stock had gained around 17% in August, its strongest monthly rise since January, supported by higher global copper prices, availability concerns and expectations related to possible US import tariffs and increased shipments to the United States. Shareholding data at the end of the June quarter, according to Outlook Business, showed retail investors holding a combined 23.1%, individual shareholders with holdings up to Rs 2 lakh accounting for 17.79%, and mutual funds around 1%.

Market context

An offer for sale allows promoters of a listed company to sell shares on the stock-exchange platform. In this case the promoter is the Government of India. Institutional and non-retail investors participate under the broader OFS framework, while retail bidders use the reserved portion, as outlined by The Economic Times. The combination of a discounted floor price, retail and employee reservations, and the green-shoe flexibility is intended to facilitate orderly absorption of the shares being offered.