The Indian government announced on Tuesday that it will sell up to 2% of its stake in Indian Railway Finance Corp (IRFC) through an offer for sale (OFS).
According to a post by the divestment secretary on social media platform X, the treasury will initially divest 1% of its equity in the state-owned financier, with an option to offload a further 1% depending on investor appetite.
The government outlined the schedule for the transaction, saying the offer will open for non-retail investors on Wednesday and for retail investors on Thursday.
Under an offer for sale, promoters or large shareholders can sell existing shares of a listed company through the stock exchanges rather than issuing fresh equity. The method is commonly used to provide liquidity and transfer shares from public hands without diluting the company through new share issuance.
The OFS is being undertaken against the backdrop of the government's broader fiscal plan. In its Union Budget, the government set a combined divestment and asset monetization target of 800 billion Indian rupees for fiscal year 2027.
IRFC has been the subject of earlier divestment efforts this year. In February, the government proposed selling up to 4% of its stake in the company but ultimately managed to sell only 1.71% of its holding. Following that transaction, the government continues to hold an 84.65% stake in the financier.
Details released so far are limited to the size of the stake on offer, the sequencing for investor tranches, and the conditional nature of the increment to 2% - which is explicitly tied to demand. The government did not provide additional details in the announcement about pricing, book-building or the expected timetable beyond the opening days for non-retail and retail participation.
The decision to proceed with an OFS to raise up to 2% of IRFC highlights ongoing efforts to meet stated divestment and monetization targets while offering both institutional and retail investors a scheduled route to participate.