(Corrects fourth paragraph to show lower end of price band is 90 rupees, not 85)

MUMBAI, Feb 25 (Reuters) - State-run lender Rural Electrification Corp has priced its initial public offer at 105 rupees a share, at the top end of its indicated price band, a senior official said on Monday.

"The board has approved 105 rupees. The group of minister's have also concluded their meeting. Although we don't have official word, it is likely to be the same price," Finance Director H. D. Khunteta told Reuters.

REC's 156-million share offer attracted applications for 27.91 times the share on offer. While the qualified institutional buyers segment was subscribed 39.3 times, retail portion was subscribed 7.7 times.

"We expect to list the shares around 13th-14th of March," Khunteta said. The company had indicated a price band between 90 rupees and 105 rupees per share for the sale.

At 105 rupees a share, the offer will raise 16.4 billion rupees. The issue comprises of equal parts of fresh shares and a stake sale by the federal government, bringing its holding down to 81.8 percent from 100 percent now.

REC's share offer is the first share sale in a state-run power firm since the government divested 13.6 percent in transmission utility Power Grid Corp <PGRD.BO> in October 2007, raising 29.8 billion rupees.

(Reporting by Prashant Mehra; Editing by Ramya Venugopal) (([email protected]; +91 22 6636 9029; Reuters Messaging: [email protected]))

Keywords: REC PRICE/