New Delhi, Dec 2 (IANS) The government’s Offer for Sale (OFS) of its stake in Bank of Maharashtra was oversubscribed 4.07 times on the opening day of bidding for non‑retail investors on Tuesday, according to an official statement.

Strong demand from non-retail investors led to the government activating the additional one per cent green‑shoe allocation after the base five per cent offer was heavily subscribed.

“The issue was subscribed 4.07 times of the base size, reflecting strong market confidence. Given the oversubscription, the government has exercised the green-shoe option in full, taking the total divestment to 6 per cent of BoM’s paid-up capital. This will ensure that BoM achieves the Minimum Public Shareholding (MPS) norms,” the Finance Ministry statement said.

The Offer for Sale will open for retail investors and Bank of Maharashtra employees on December 3, it said.

The government encourages eligible investors to participate in the offer and partake in the value creation of our public assets, it added.

“Congratulations to the staff and leadership at the Bank of Maharashtra for outstanding financial performance over the last few years. Keep it going,” Secretary, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management, said in a post on social media platform X.

The Centre on Monday announced its decision to divest up to 6 per cent stake in Bank of Maharashtra (BoM), comprising 5 per cent equity and an additional 1 per cent as a green-shoe option, at a floor price of Rs 54 per share.

Of the total offer size, 10 per cent has been reserved for retail investors, with the remaining allocated to non-retail participants.

A report from CareEdge Ratings said that public sector banks (PSBs) recorded a 4.7 per cent year‑on‑year rise in net profit to Rs 0.50 lakh crore in Q2FY26 due to fee income, treasury gains and credit growth in the retail and MSME segments.

–IANS

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