Petronet LNG Ltd, which will become India's first LNG importer when Qatari RasGas' cargo lands at its Dahej import terminal in January next year, has planned an initial public offering of equity shares in the same month.

"We have appointed DSP Merril Lynch, J M Morgan Stanley, ICICI Securities, Enam and SBI Caps as merchant bankers for the IPO of 20 crore (200 million) shares (25 per cent of the equity capital)," PLL director (finance) P Dasgupta told PTI in New Delhi.

The company will list its shares on the Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange to raise Rs 250 crore (Rs 2.50 billion) that would part-fund construction of the Rs 800 crore (Rs 8 billion) Dahej import terminal in Gujarat. The 5 million tonnes Dahej terminal will be commissioned in December.

The share placement will also part-finance a third LNG storage tank at Dahej, construction on which is to begin in the first quarter of 2004.

Dasgupta said the prospectus for the IPO would be filed sometime in December.