Mahanadi Coalfields, the largest coal-producing unit of state-run Coal India, will open its initial public offering on Thursday, Nov. 19, leading three Indian share sales in the coming week. The Economic Times put the combined target at more than 100 billion rupees, a figure that rests on estimates because the largest deal has not been priced.

Coal India is selling up to 661,836,300 shares, or 10% of the company, and the price is still unknown. The red herring prospectus, dated Nov. 13 and disclosed by Coal India in an exchange filing on Saturday, does not give a price band, Mint reported. For investors in Hong Kong and Singapore who track Indian state-owned companies, that leaves little time to judge the valuation of one of the larger government-linked listings of the year before books open.

Mahanadi Coalfields: dates set, price band pending

Bidding runs from Nov. 19 to Monday, Nov. 23. Anchor investors, the large institutions that commit before the public offer, bid on Nov. 18, Mint said. Allotment is expected on Nov. 25 and the shares are due to start trading on the BSE and the National Stock Exchange of India on Nov. 27.

The deal is entirely an offer for sale. Mahanadi Coalfields receives nothing, and the proceeds, after expenses and taxes, go to Coal India. Mint estimated the size at 95 billion to 100 billion rupees, or about $1 billion, and said market reports and financial projections point to a valuation of up to $10 billion. Those numbers are Mint's estimates, not company figures, and stay that way until the price band is published.

Up to 33.1 million shares are reserved for eligible employees and 66.1 million for existing Coal India shareholders, leaving a net offer of up to 562.5 million shares, according to Mint. Of that, as much as half is open to qualified institutional buyers, at least 15% to non-institutional investors and at least 35% to retail investors. SBI Capital Markets, Axis Capital, BOB Capital Markets, IDBI Capital Markets & Securities and IIFL Capital Services are managing the sale.

Capital Times has earlier coverage of the offering's regulatory review. It is the third Coal India subsidiary to come to market this year: Bharat Coking Coal listed in January and Central Mine Planning & Design Institute in March, Mint said. South Eastern Coalfields has filed draft papers and is waiting for approval.

A profit that has slipped for two years

The prospectus shows a large, profitable miner whose earnings have edged lower. Revenue from operations was 305.5 billion rupees in the fiscal year ended March 2026, down from 313.5 billion rupees a year earlier and 316.3 billion rupees the year before that, according to figures cited by Mint. Profit attributable to owners fell to 106.8 billion rupees from 108.2 billion rupees in fiscal 2025 and 118.4 billion rupees in fiscal 2024.

The most recent half looks better. In the six months ended September 2026, revenue rose to 160.9 billion rupees from 147.2 billion rupees a year earlier, and profit attributable to owners rose to 48.8 billion rupees from 45.7 billion rupees.

Mahanadi Coalfields produced 218.31 million tonnes of coal in fiscal 2026 and dispatched 210.74 million tonnes, Mint reported. That was 21% of India's output and made it the country's largest single coal producer, though production was below the 225.17 million tonnes of the previous year. The company ran 17 mines as of June 30, 14 of them opencast and three underground, in the Talcher and Ib Valley coalfields of Odisha, The Economic Times said.

The risks listed in the prospectus are the familiar ones for a thermal coal miner. Most revenue comes from raw non-coking coal sold to power plants, and expansion depends on environmental and forest clearances, land acquisition and rail links, according to Mint.

Crystal Crop Protection returns with a smaller deal

The week's first offering is far smaller. Crystal Crop Protection, an agrochemicals and seeds company founded in 1994, opens a 4.55 billion rupee IPO on Wednesday, Nov. 18, and closes it on Nov. 20. The price band is 259 to 272 rupees a share, with a minimum bid of 55 shares, The Economic Times reported.

The sale combines a fresh issue of about 3.55 billion rupees with an offer for sale of about 1.01 billion rupees by existing shareholders. Both parts are smaller than first planned. The draft prospectus filed in December 2025 proposed a fresh issue of 6 billion rupees and an offer for sale of 7,405,387 shares, the Press Trust of India reported at the time. The offer for sale now covers 3,702,694 shares, half that number, according to the offer details published by Business Standard.

It is the company's second attempt. Crystal Crop Protection filed for an IPO of 10 billion rupees in 2018 and won regulatory approval but did not launch, PTI said. The money raised this time is earmarked for repaying borrowings at the company and at its subsidiary Saffire Crop Science, and for general corporate purposes, according to Business Standard.

Net profit rose 22% to 1.45 billion rupees in fiscal 2026 from 1.18 billion rupees, and revenue grew 16%, The Economic Times said. The company sells through 14,717 independent distributors across 23 states and four union territories. Its shares are due to list on Nov. 26.

A third issue, by Watrana Rentals, seeks about 1.2 billion rupees on the National Stock Exchange's platform for small and medium enterprises. It opens Nov. 19 at 232 to 245 rupees a share and closes Nov. 23.

Capital Times has separately covered Hindustan Coca-Cola's IPO plans. For Mahanadi Coalfields, the next number to watch is the price band, which Mint said is to be announced ahead of the issue.