Govt plans to offload around 4% stake in NLC India via OFS this fiscal

NLC India is planning to invest Rs 1.25 lakh crore by 2030

The government plans to offload around 4 percent stake in NLC India, formerly Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, this fiscal, two government officials said. The first round of disinvestment in the Navratna under the coal ministry was completed in March 2024.

“The Neyveli Lignite offer for sale (OFS) is likely to be completed this year. The finance ministry likely to do it this year. The decision of the cabinet is already there,” one of the officials told Moneycontrol on condition of anonymity.

Another official confirmed that the government still has a 3-5 percent stake to offload. “It has been over a year now since the last OFS, so we can look at it,” the official said.

The cabinet approval allows the remaining around 4 percent stake to be offloaded. One tranche was already done last year. “The remaining 3-5 percent will be offloaded in the second tranche,” the official told Moneycontrol.

The government holds a majority 72.2 percent stake in NLC India.

The department of investment and public asset management (DIPAM) is targeting the OFS this fiscal, subject to market conditions. As the approval is in place, the process is expected to be faster and more streamlined, provided investor sentiment is supportive, he said.

NLC India is primarily engaged in lignite mining, and thermal and renewable energy generation.

The previous round of stake sale, held on March 7–8, 2024, saw strong demand from institutional and retail investors. The offer was subscribed 2.92 times, prompting the finance ministry to exercise the green-shoe option and mobilise over Rs 600 crore through the sale.

The offloading of the stake is also a part of the Centre’s broader disinvestment agenda for FY26, as it looks to raise non-tax revenues and encourage wider public participation in profit-making PSUs.

The company is planning to invest Rs 1.25 lakh crore by 2030 to expand capacity from 6.7 gigawatt to 20 gigawatt, chairman and managing director (CMD) Prasanna Kumar Motupalli has said.

Out of Rs 1.25 lakh crore, the company will spend around Rs 65,000 crore on renewables and other green initiatives. Around Rs 45,000 crore will be earmarked for thermal and Rs 15,000 crores for mining.

Out of the Rs 65,000 crore capex on renewables, Rs 15,000 crore will be on the battery storage system, Motupalli recently said.