An official said on August 16 that the government is considering selling a portion of its 86.36% stake in the state-owned Indian Railway Finance Corp (IRFC) through the offer-for-sale (OFS) route this fiscal year.

An inter-ministerial group comprised of officers from the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) and the Railways Ministry has begun deliberations on the amount of stake dilution in the railways' financing arm, the OFS, he added. If the government decides to reduce its stake in IRFC to 75% via this OFS in order to comply with Sebi's public shareholding norms, it could earn around 7,600 crore, based on the company's share price on August 16.

IRFC shares rose 0.57% to 51.19 on Aug 16, outperforming the Sensex's 0.21% gain. In the last month, the stock has increased by nearly 58%.

The government recently sold a 5.36% stake in another state-run railway company, Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL), in an OFS for Rs. 1,366 crore. In the first quarter of this fiscal year, the government collected 11% of its FY24 disinvestment revenue target of 51,000 crore.