South Eastern Coalfields Files Draft Papers for IPO with SEBI

South Eastern Coalfields Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Coal India Ltd, filed a draft red herring prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Board of India on 1 November 2026 for an initial public offering. The offering will consist entirely of an offer for sale of up to 668,056,100 equity shares of face value Rs 2 each held by Coal India. There is no fresh issue component. Proceeds will go entirely to the parent company.

SECL is headquartered in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, and was incorporated in 1985. It received Miniratna Category-I status in 2007 and completed 40 years of coal mining operations in 2025. The company operates 60 coal mines across central India, including 35 in Chhattisgarh and 25 in Madhya Pradesh. It produced 176.29 million tonnes of coal in the fiscal year ended 31 March 2026. That volume accounted for 16.94 percent of India’s total coal production and 22.95 percent of Coal India’s output, according to a CRISIL report cited in the prospectus. Production rose 5.25 percent from 167.49 million tonnes the previous year.

The company reported revenue of about Rs 33,000 crore for FY26, with net income of Rs 4,755 crore. SBI Capital Markets, ICICI Securities, IDBI Capital Markets & Securities and Motilal Oswal Investment Advisors are the book-running lead managers. KFin Technologies will serve as registrar. Around 35 percent of the offer is reserved for retail investors, 5 percent for employees and 10 percent for eligible shareholders of Coal India. Up to 50 percent of the net offer will go to qualified institutional buyers and 15 percent to non-institutional investors.

The IPO could raise as much as $800 million, according to people familiar with the matter. The filing follows a Ministry of Coal office memorandum dated 16 December 2025 that asked Coal India to take steps toward listing SECL and another subsidiary in the following financial year. The shares are proposed to be listed on the BSE and NSE. The offer will use the book-building process. Final size in rupees will depend on the price band, which has not been set.

Coal India shares rose after the announcement. They traded at Rs 406.7 around 2:20 pm on 2 November, up from the previous close of Rs 389. The listing is intended to unlock value from a major subsidiary and provide a public market for SECL shares. Because the issue is an offer for sale, SECL itself will receive no proceeds. The company stated in the draft papers that listing would enhance visibility and brand image and provide liquidity for the equity shares.

SECL holds more than 11 percent of India’s coal reserves and ranks as Coal India’s second-largest coal-producing subsidiary. The draft prospectus does not specify a timeline for the offering or the exact number of shares that will ultimately be sold within the 668.1 million ceiling. Regulatory approval from SEBI and market conditions will determine when the issue proceeds. The filing is the latest step in Coal India’s plan to bring subsidiaries to the public markets.