Coal India Subsidiary South Eastern Coalfields Files DRHP for Mega OFS IPO — November 2, 2026
State-backed mining giant Coal India Limited (CIL) has moved closer to listing another major operating unit, with its subsidiary South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL) officially filing a Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for an initial public offering.
The proposed issue is structured entirely as an Offer for Sale (OFS) of up to 668,056,100 (66.81 crore) equity shares by parent company Coal India. Because there is no fresh issue component, the company itself will receive no proceeds; all proceeds generated from the share sale will go directly to Coal India. Industry estimates and preliminary filings suggest the share sale could raise up to $800 million (approximately ₹6,500 crore to ₹8,000 crore) depending on final pricing.
Offer Structure and Key Allocations
The issue provides dedicated reservations across multiple investor segments to encourage broad-based participation:
- Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs): Up to 50% of the net offer is allocated to qualified institutional bidders.
- Retail Individual Investors: 35% of the net issue is reserved for retail applicants.
- Non-Institutional Investors (NIIs): 15% of the offer is set aside for high-net-worth and non-institutional bidders.
- Shareholder and Employee Quota: The draft papers outline a specific reservation of up to 10% for eligible existing shareholders of parent Coal India Limited, alongside a 5% allocation for SECL employees.
The book-running lead managers appointed to manage the listing are SBI Capital Markets, ICICI Securities, IDBI Capital Markets & Securities, and Motilal Oswal Investment Advisors, while KFin Technologies will serve as the registrar to the issue. The equity shares will be listed on both the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and the BSE.
Operational and Financial Footprint
Bilaspur-headquartered SECL is one of the foundational production engines of the Indian energy sector. In FY26, the company recorded an output of 176.29 million tonnes of coal, representing 16.94% of India’s overall domestic coal output and 22.95% of Coal India’s consolidated production.
As of September 2026, the company operated 53 producing mines across 12 operational areas spanning Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, comprising 19 opencast and 34 underground mines in the Mand-Raigarh, Korba, and Central India coalfields. Financially, SECL generated revenue of around ₹33,000 crore and recorded a net profit of ₹4,755 crore for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2026.
Broader Divestment and Listing Roadmap
The filing forms part of a concerted directive from the Ministry of Coal and the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) to unlock value across Coal India’s operating subsidiaries. Coal India’s board had granted in-principle approval for public listings of its leading arms following ministerial guidelines.
The filing by SECL comes on the heels of Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL), which submitted its DRHP to SEBI for an offer of 661.8 million shares. It also follows the earlier listings of two other subsidiaries, Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) and Central Mine Planning & Design Institute (CMPDI).
For domestic equity investors, the SECL public issue offers direct exposure to a cash-generative public-sector utility, coming at a time when primary equity markets in India continue to see sustained participation from institutional and retail investors.
