Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Coal India, is coming out with its maiden initial public offering (IPO) in January 2026, making it one of the first major PSU listings of the year. The issue is entirely an offer for sale (OFS) by the promoter Coal India, through which it will offload 46.57 crore equity shares and raise around Rs 1,071 crore at the upper end of the price band, implying no fresh capital inflow into the company and all proceeds going to the government via Coal India’s stake dilution.
The IPO is structured as a book-built issue with a price band of Rs 21–23 per share and a face value of Rs 10, and the shares are proposed to be listed on both the BSE and NSE, giving the company access to the capital markets and providing a market-determined valuation and liquidity for investors. The subscription window is scheduled from 9 January to 13 January 2026, with the basis of allotment expected on 14 January and listing around 16 January, following the typical mainboard IPO timeline.
BCCL is strategically important because it is India’s leading producer of coking coal, a critical raw material for the steel industry and certain power applications, and it operates in resource-rich coalfields of Jharia in Jharkhand and Raniganj in West Bengal, with a leasehold area of about 288 sq km. The company runs 34 operational mines, including underground, opencast, and mixed mines, and has estimated coking coal reserves of about 7,910 million tonnes as of April 2024, underlining the long resource life and the strategic importance of its assets for domestic steel capacity.
In production terms, BCCL’s coal output has risen from around 30.5 million tonnes in FY 2022 to about 40.5 million tonnes in FY 2025, and it accounted for nearly 58.5% of India’s domestic coking coal production in FY 2025, which effectively makes it the dominant domestic supplier in a country otherwise dependent on imports for this grade of coal. The company has also been focusing on mechanisation, mine redevelopment via MDO (Mine Developer and Operator) and WDO (Washery Developer and Operator) models, and developing solar power assets for self-consumption and grid sale, indicating attempts to improve operational efficiency and diversify its energy footprint.
From an investment perspective, key positives include BCCL’s status as a debt-free PSU backed by Coal India and the Government of India, its large reserve base, and steady demand visibility from the domestic steel sector, which is aligned with India’s infrastructure and manufacturing push. The IPO also offers investors a way to participate directly in the coking coal value chain, which historically has benefited from favorable pricing cycles when steel demand is strong, while the OFS structure keeps the balance sheet unchanged and does not dilute existing operational metrics.
However, there are notable risks that investors must weigh, the business is heavily exposed to regulatory and environmental norms, mine safety and rehabilitation obligations, and litigation reports indicate sizeable pending cases related to environment, taxation, and land, which can create financial and operational uncertainties. In addition, a large portion of reserves is yet to be certified under international codes, and any adverse movement in coal pricing policies, steel sector demand, or government decarbonisation strategies could impact long-term growth and profitability.
Overall, Bharat Coking Coal’s IPO combines the characteristics of a strategic, government-backed resource play with concentrated regulatory and sectoral risks, making it suitable mainly for investors who understand PSU dynamics, commodity cyclicality, and the policy environment around coal and steel in India.