The sale of government's residual equity in IPCL through public offer received an overwhelming response on the very first day, with bids put in for 6.5 crore (65 million) shares, higher than the 5.94 crore (59.4 million) shares available for subscription.

At the end of the day, the investors placed bids for 6.5 crore shares predominantly at Rs 170 per share, the floor price fixed for the issue, investment banking sources said in Mumbai.

The maximum number of bids came from high quality institutional investors while retail investors have just begun to trickle in, they said.

The retail investors' response was expected to grow in coming days and bids would be around Rs 170 per share, they added.