New Delhi, Jan. 6: The public issues of Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) and Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) will hit the market on March 10. The flotation will be for 14.2 crore equity shares of ONGC and 8.4 crore equity shares of GAIL.

The cabinet committee on disinvestment had recently decided to offload 10 per cent of the equity each in exploration firm ONGC and gas transmission firm Gail.

An inter-ministerial group (IMG) will meet during the next two days to finalise the time-table for public issues. By January 20, the government will file the draft prospectus for the public issue of Gail and by the month-end for that of ONGC.

Bids under the book-building process will be invited from March 10 to March 16. Share allotment and price fixing has been slated for March 26. The schedule is tentative.

Sources said lead managers to the issue are currently carrying out due diligence. “We hope to receive the comments of Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on draft prospectus by February 23 and a final prospectus will be filed with the Registrar of Companies by February end,” the sources added.

At current prices, the two public issues could rake in between Rs 11,500 crore and Rs 12,500 crore for the government. Roadshows for the twin issues are slated in the first week of March.

A consortium of Kotak Mahindra Capital Company, DSP Merrill Lynch and JM Morgan Stanley are the lead managers for the ONGC issue. ICICI Securities and HSBC Securities and Capital Markets are advising the government on Gail.