The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) halved the minimum market value required by listed firms seeking to make follow-on offerings to Rs50bn (US$1.1bn).

Last week, the government said all profitable, listed state firms must have at least 10% of their shares in public hands, boosting hopes for offerings from several government-run firms.

The new rules for follow-on public offerings applied to all listed firms, Sebi Chairman CB Bhave told reporters at a press conference in Mumbai.

This is to facilitate fast-track issuance in case of follow-on public offers, and more companies can access funds from the capital market, he said.

SEBI on November 9 also decided to introduce an auction-based method of bookbuilding for follow-on public offers, in which buyers will be free to bid at any price above the floor price. Bhave said this would be applicable only to institutional buyers, and not retail investors.