Bangalore: The country's largest oil and gas company, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), would set up 1,100 retail outlets and 500 of its subsidiary, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL), for marketing motor spirit and high speed diesel, a senior company executive said today (Marc 1, 2004).

Speaking to reporters on the offer for sale of equity shares of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited opening on March 5, ONGC Executive Director A Kaviraj said the first outlet of MRPL would be opened in Mangalore "very shortly".

ONGC had received the Government authorisation to open the outlets, he said, adding they were considering either "stand alone" or the "chain outlet" option. "Most probably, we will go for the chain outlet option."

A majority-owned subsidiary, MRPL is a significant domestic refiner of crude oil, using feedstock supplied from its own production as well as from foreign producers.

MRPL, he said, was operating at 115 per cent of its "rated capacity", an increase from 60 per cent when ONGC acquired 51 per cent equity in 2003, which has now gone up to 71.6 per cent.

He said ONGC would hold road-shows in US covering New York, Los Angeles and Boston, three or four countries in Europe, Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo.

The offer for sale is for 142,593,300 equity shares of Rs 10 each, constituting 10 per cent of the total paid-up capital of the company, in which the Government of India presently holds 84.11 per cent of its equity capital.

The price band/floor price on the issue would be announced at least a day prior to the bid opening date.