Bharat Coking Coal IPO to open January 9; Coal India to divest 10% stake

Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL), a key subsidiary of Coal India Ltd, will launch its much-anticipated initial public offering (IPO) on 9 January 2026. The offering, valued at Rs 1,300 crore, will see Coal India, the promoter, offload its stake through an offer for sale. The company plans to announce the price band for the issue on 5 January, with anchor investor bidding set to open a day prior to the public offer.

The book running lead managers for the issue are IDBI Capital Markets & Securities and ICICI Securities Limited, while KFin Technologies Limited has been appointed as the registrar. The grey market premium (GMP) for the IPO has not yet opened, with investor attention now focused on the upcoming price band announcement.

The IPO is structured entirely as an offer for sale, with promoter Coal India offloading 46.57 crore equity shares and no fresh issue involved. As a result, all proceeds from the issue will go to the selling shareholder, and the company itself will not receive any funds.

In its red herring prospectus filed on January 2, Bharat Coking Coal said the objectives of the IPO are to facilitate the offer for sale and to secure the benefits of listing its equity shares on the stock exchanges.

The issue, representing 10 per cent of the company’s total paid-up equity capital, includes a reservation of up to 2.32 crore equity shares for employees and 4.65 crore shares for existing shareholders.

The anchor book will open for one day on January 8, followed by the public issue, which will remain open for subscription until January 13.

Established in 1972, BCCL stands as India's largest producer of coking coal and holds significant reserves, estimated at 7,910 million tonnes as of 1 April 2024. As a wholly-owned subsidiary of Coal India, the company was awarded 'Mini Ratna' status in 2014, reflecting its operational importance and financial strength within the industry.

BCCL’s mining and extraction operations are concentrated in the Jharia coalfields of Jharkhand and the Raniganj coalfields in West Bengal, regions known for their rich deposits. The company has focused on improving its production capabilities and operational efficiency by deploying advanced heavy earth-moving machinery (HEMM) across its sites.

The company reported a net profit of Rs 1,240 crore for the financial year ending 31 March 2025, down from Rs 1,564 crore in the previous year. For the first half of FY26, profit after tax was Rs 124 crore, compared to Rs 749 crore in the same period a year earlier. Total revenue from operations for FY25 amounted to Rs 13,803 crore, reflecting a decline from Rs 14,246 crore in FY24.

BCCL recorded a topline of Rs 5,659 crore in the first half of FY26, against Rs 6,846 crore during H1FY25. This trend highlights pressures on revenue growth and profit margins, factors likely to be scrutinised by prospective investors in the upcoming offer.

The company achieved a record coking coal production of 39.11 million tonnes in fiscal 2024 and has maintained a steady compound annual growth rate of 5.80% in coking coal production from fiscal 2023 to 2025. This expansion has been underpinned by ongoing investments in machinery and operational processes to optimise output.