The initial public offer of NHPC Ltd, the state-run hydropower producer, was subscribed 3.54 times what was on offer on Friday, the opening day.

According to the National Stock Exchange data, the company got bids for over 5.94 billion shares against the 1.67 billion shares on offer. Over 40 million bids came at the cut-off price. The majority of bids had come from large institutional investors.

The portion reserved for qualified institutional buyers was over-bid by over six times, while retail investors subscribed to only 1 per cent of the shares on offer.

"Being a public sector firm, NHPC has drawn a lot of attention from various categories of investors," said a merchant banker to the issue. The price band is between Rs 30 to Rs 36.

The company plans to raise over Rs 6,000 crore and it is the first stake sale by a state-run company in over one and a half years, after REC raised over Rs 1,600 crore in February 2008.