The South Korean auto giant Hyundai launched its initial public offering (IPO) on Tuesday, billed as India's biggest stock market debut, and was projected to be worth about $3.3 billion (€3.05 billion).

The first carmaker to go public in the South Asian country since Maruti Suzuki in 2003, Hyundai offered 142 million shares for sale, representing about 17.5% of the total shares of its Indian arm.

By the end of Thursday, the IPO was twice oversubscribed, drawing bids of $5.51 billion.

Reuters news agency cited unnamed sources linked to the listing as saying that Hyundai would price its shares at 1,960 rupees ($23.31, €21.49t), giving it a market valuation of $19 billion. That would value the Indian unit at about 40% of its Korean parent.

In a sign of the popularity of Hyundai's listing on the Bombay Stock Exchange, institutions, including foreign investors, bid nearly seven times the shares reserved for them.

Nearly $1 billion in shares were snapped up by institutional investors on Monday alone, including the government of Singapore and BlackRock, the giant US investment firm, which picked up stakes worth a total of $77.3 million.

Fidelity, meanwhile, bought shares worth $76.5 million and domestic mutual funds were allocated........

© Deutsche Welle