Having reworked the proposal for a public offering of shares in National Thermal Power Corporation, the power ministry has floated a Cabinet note seeking approval for a Rs 400 crore (Rs 4 billion) initial public offering, expected to hit the market in February, a top company official said.

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"The power ministry has floated a Cabinet note inviting comments from various ministries on the issue. We have set a target of February next for tapping the capital market," C P Jain, chairman and managing director, NTPC, said on the sidelines of a conference on thermal power generation, in New Delhi on Monday.

Jain said the power ministry had recently floated a Cabinet note seeking permisison for the proposed offering.

Asked at what price the company would offer its shares, Jain merely said the float would be at a premium but added that face value of the issue would be Rs 400 crore.

He said NPTC proposes to offload as much as five per cent of its equity to investors under the issue. The government currently holds 100 per cent equity in the company.

NTPC is expected to approach the capital markets watchdog Securities and Exchange Board of India seeking a waiver of the existing listing norms which stipulate a minimum float of 10 per cent for fresh listings.

"We have already written to the regulator about this issue and would take it (waiver) up afresh once the Cabinet approvals are in place," Jain added.

Earlier power secretary R V Shahi had asked NPTC to rework its proposals to address certain concerns raised by it.

The power giant had been contemplating offering differential dividends for government and other investors where in the latter would be eligible for special treatment in the form of higher dividend.

The corporation has established power generation capacity to the tune of 20,000 MW largely in gas and coal based station and plans to double its capacity by 2012.

It has drawn up plans to foray into new areas like coal mining, coal washeries and hydel power.