The government's offer for sale of 5.44 crore (54.4 million) equity shares in GAIL (India) Ltd has received bids for 7.3 times the offer size at the end of bidding process.

The process, which concluded on Friday, saw investors put in applications for 61.6 crore (616 million) shares of the state-owned energy company, investment banking sources said in Mumbai.

These are preliminary figures at the close of bidding and collation of data is underway and it is likely to see higher response level, they added.

The government is likely to fix the offer price for Gail issue on Saturday. The floor price for bidding was set at Rs 185.

The IPO for Power Trading Corporation for 5.84 crore (58.4 million) shares, with a bidding price band of Rs 14-16 per share, received pledges for 33.58 crore (335.8 million) shares, according to the BSE data. The offer closes on March 8.