New Delhi, Feb. 3: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has given the green signal for the equity divestment in the two state-owned oil companies — Oil and Natural gas Corporation (ONGC) and Gail (India) Ltd.

The government is offloading 10 per cent of the equity in ONGC, which will hit the market on March 3. Gail, which is also divesting 10 per cent of its equity, will come out with its public issue on March 13.

Disinvestment secretary Dhirender Singh said it was not true that Sebi had washed its hands of the issue.

Singh said, “Sebi would guide the government at various steps to ensure these transactions take place in a manner which would be in the interest of capital markets and investors in India.”

The regulator has issued an advisory indicating the steps required to be taken by the government.

The ministry received the permission letter from Sebi to enlarge the price band and declare it one day before the bids were opened.

Singh said the market regulator had communicated that the detailed guidelines issued by it do not strictly apply to sale of shares. At the same time, it did not mean that the market regulator had washed its hands of the entire process.

The disinvestment secretary held a meeting on Monday with Sebi chairman G. . Bajpai on the two oil sector IPOs.

Singh said that the issues would lend depth to the market and also put good scrips in the hands of retail investors.

The government had expected to raise Rs 13,200 crore from divestment in the budget estimates for 2003-04. This has now been raised to Rs 14,500 crore in the revised estimates.