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The IPO closely follows one this month by JSW Energy, part of the group that runs India's third-largest steel maker.

India's Jindal Power, a unit of Jindal Steel & Power Ltd, said on Tuesday it had filed papers for a 72 billion rupee ($1.5 billion) initial public offer, joining a raft of firms that have tapped the surging stockmarket in recent months.

The IPO closely follows one this month by JSW Energy, part of the group that runs India's third-largest steel maker JSW Steel, to raise up to $583 million.

Adani Power and Indiabulls Power and state-run NHPC and Oil India have together raised about $2.8 billion since late July, capitalizing on investor interest as India seeks to achieve energy security.

Also on Tuesday, the government said it would sell an 8.4 percent stake in state-run miner NMDC through a follow-on offer of shares. The stake would be worth about $3 billion based on current market values.

Indian companies have sold shares worth $19 billion so far in 2009, mostly by property and power sector firms, as capital markets have revived since March. The main stock index has risen 80 percent in 2009.

In its draft prospectus, Jindal Power said the IPO proceeds would be mainly used to part finance the construction of thermal power projects with total capacity on 4,380 magawatts.

The company has capacity of 1,000 megawatts of thermal power at present, and said it was building thermal and hydroelectric projects with total installed capacity of 10,480 megawatts.

For the year ended March 2009, the company posted a restated net profit of 16.85 billion rupees on net sales of 32.57 billion.

JM Financial, Enam Securities, Deutsche Equities, Goldman Sachs (India) Securities, ICICI Securities, UBS Securities India and SBI Capital Markets are lead bankers for the issue, Jindal said.