Power Grid $1.1 billion share sale fully covered

An employee from the electricity board works on newly installed overhead power cables ahead of the "Kumbh Mela", or Pitcher Festival, as the sun sets in Allahabad December 7, 2012. REUTERS/Jitendra Prakash/Files·Reuters

MUMBAI (Reuters) - A $1.1 billion share sale in state-run Power Grid Corp of India (NSI:POWERGRID.NS - News) was fully covered on Wednesday, the second day of the offering, provisional data from the stock exchanges showed.

By 3:24 p.m., the share sale had received bids for 788.5 million shares, most of them from local funds and foreign institutional investors.

Details of the price of bids was not immediately available. The company has set a price band of 85 rupees to 90 rupees per share for the offer, with a discount of 4.5 rupees for retail bidders and employees.

The 787.05 million share follow-on offering comprises of a 4 percent stake sale by the government, and fresh issue of 601.9 million shares by the company to raise funds for capital expenditure on transmission projects.

The issue closes on Thursday for institutional buyers and on Friday for other investors.

(Reporting by Prashant Mehra; Editing by Anupama Dwivedi)

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