NHPC share sale subscribed 1.5 times

Construction workers carrying their lunch boxes walk at the dam site of Kishanganga power project in Gurez, 160 km (99 miles) north of Srinagar June 21, 2012. REUTERS/Fayaz Kabli/Files

MUMBAI (Reuters) - State-owned hydropower producer NHPC Ltd's (NHPC.NS) $421 million share sale was subscribed 1.5 times at 1235 India time (0705 GMT) on Wednesday, according to stock exchange data.

On Tuesday, the government announced a 11.36 percent stake sale in the company to raise up to 28 billion rupees ($421.08 million).

India wants to raise 565 billion rupees from the sale of stakes in state-owned enterprises in the 2016/17 financial year. That is 19 percent lower than last year's target, which the government failed to meet.

The government set a floor price of 21.75 rupees per NHPC share for the stake sale - a 6 percent discount to the stock's closing price on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, however, the company's shares slipped below the offer price for sale, and were trading at 21.70 rupees each at 1245 India time (0715 GMT).

($1 = 66.4950 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Promit Mukherjee; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)