With a view to attract small investors, the government will offer in lots of 10 the shares of state-owned exploration firm Oil and Natural Gas Corporation for public issue to divest 10 per cent of its equity.

The inter-ministerial group on ONGC divestment which met in New Delhi late on Wednesday, decided to offer the shares in multiples of 10 instead of the normal practice of offering in lots of 100 shares and multiples thereof, sources said in New Delhi.

"Deciding against splitting ONGC shares into smaller denominations, the IMG instead decided to reduce the lot of shares on offer from 100 to 10. A smaller lot will enable small and retail investors to participate in the public offer," they said.

The public issue of 14.2 crore (142 million) shares of ONGC will hit the market on March 2 and will be open for bidding under the book building route for seven working days, they said.

A draft prospectus for the public issue will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Board of India before the month end and road shows will be held in London, Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai and a couple of places in the United States in the last week of February.

Simultaneous roadshows will also be organised in India.

The IMG finalised the timetable for the public issue keeping in mind the fact that the receivables from the issue should accrue to the government during this fiscal itself, the sources said.

A consortium of Kotak Mahindra Capital Co, DSP Merrill Lynch and JM Morgan Stanley are the book runners for the ONGC issue.

The government, last month, decided to sell 10 per cent equity in ONGC through a public offering in the domestic market to meet the unrealised divestment target of Rs 13,200 crore (Rs 132 billion) for the current fiscal.