Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton are among a clutch of firms to have advised on the Indian Government's $2.14bn (£1.4bn) sale of a stake in NTPC, one of the country's largest state-owned power companies.

The sale amounted to 9.5% of the company and follows a succession of similar deals by the Government as it attempts to raise around $6bn (£4bn) to reduce its budget deficit.

HSF London partner and global head of capital markets Steve Thierbach and Singapore counsel Siddhartha Sivaramakrishnan served as international and US advisers to NTPC.

Cleary City capital markets partner Sebastian Sperber represented transaction brokers including Citigroup along with Prashant Gupta, a partner at Indian firm Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A Shroff & Co.

Fellow Indian firm Khaitan & Co advised on local law with a team led by capital markets partners Nikhilesh Panchal and Sharad Vaid.

In raising the $2.14bn, the Government sold 783,262,880 equity shares through auctions on stock exchanges, making it the biggest Indian privatisation in the current financial year and the largest equity deal in India since March 2012.

The mandates for HSF and Amarchand come after both firms took roles on another high-profile India deal last November, advising Indian drinks company United Spirits and parent company United Breweries on the £1.2bn acquisition of a 53.4% stake in United Spirits by UK beverage giant Diageo.

HSF's team was led by City corporate partners Alan Montgomery and Roddy Martin alongside India practice chairman Chris Parsons.