State-run NTPC's follow-on pubic offering (FPO) was fully bid on the last day of the issue today, 5 February 2010. The FPO got bids for 49.36 crore shares by 17:00 IST as compared with 41.22 crore shares on offer, NSE data showed. Bids for 20.56 crore shares were placed at Rs 209. The next highest number of bids were put at Rs 202, just above the floor price of Rs 201. Investors put in bids for 16.9 crore shares at Rs 202.

The institutional segment was oversubscribed on day one on Wednesday, 3 February 2010, as domestic institutional investors (DIIs) made a beeline for the issue. DIIs excluding mutual funds put in bids for 31.15 crore shares by Thursday, 4 February 2010 compared to 20.4 crore shares reserved for the qualified institutional buyers (QIB) segment as a whole. Foreign funds put in bids for 90 lakh shares by Thursday.

NTPC's FPO is the first public issue which is adopting the French Auction route to raise funds. Under the French Auction model, institutional buyers are free to bid above a certain floor price. The highest bidder gets preference during the allotment of shares

The government currently holds an 89.5% stake in NTPC and it plans to dilute 5% through the FPO. At the floor price, the government would mop up Rs 8286 crore