The fourth further fund offer (FFO) of the CPSE ETF which has been the centre's most efficient divestment tool will likely be launched on March 19. The base size of the issue has been fixed at Rs. 3500 crore, with an option to retain additional amount over and above the base size depending on the subscription for the issue. The issue will close on March 22.

Through the additional offering of the Bharat 22 ETF, the government mopped up Rs. 10,405 crore or 2.8 times of the base offer size of 3,500 crore.

Further from the last 3 CPSE ETF issue, the centre raised Rs. 35,730 crore or 63% of the overall divestment receipts of Rs. 56,473 crore so far in FY19. It is expected that the fourth CPSE ETF FFO may help the government exceed its divestment target of Rs. 80,000 crore for FY19.

In the third FFO of the CPSE ETF that came up in November 2018, government garnered a sum of Rs. 17,000 crore as against the base size of Rs. 8000 crore as investors made subscriptions worth Rs. 30,899 crore.

The centre is of the view that with low appetite for individual stocks and high volatility, ETFs attract higher number of retail investors.

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