New Delhi, Feb. 25: The government today fixed a floor price of Rs 185 per share for the forthcoming Gail public offer and offered a 5 per cent discount to retail investors.

“Retail investors will be eligible for a discount of 5 per cent over the price offered to institutional bidders,” said disinvestment secretary Dhirendra Singh.

The Gail public offer of 8.45 crore shares will open on February 27 and close on March 5.

The government proposes to divest a 10 per cent stake in Gail India Limited, bringing down its stake to 56 per cent.

Gail is the fifth public offer made by the government recently, following IPCL, CMC, IBP and Dredging Corporation of India (DCI).

The Gail scrip closed at Rs 196 on BSE down 5 per cent over Tuesday’s close. Singh said the government was not concerned about the 5 per cent dip in prices.

“No, we are not concerned about the dip in prices. Market will stabilise,” Singh said.

Gail, primarily a natural gas company, is focused on all aspects of the gas value chain, including exploration, production, transmission, extraction, processing, distribution and marketing of natural gas and its related processes, products and services.