Oil & Natural Gas Sets Target Date for Share Sale

MUMBAI – India's Oil & Natural Gas Corp. is seeking to launch its follow-on share sale by April 5, after deferring the sale from its earlier deadline of March 15, two people familiar with the matter said Monday.

The state-run oil explorer planned to file a draft prospectus for the share sale last week, but the plan hit a road block with the capital markets regulator because of a shortfall in the number of independent directors on its board.

India's federal government, which owns 74.14% in ONGC, plans to sell a 5% stake in the company to raise funds for social welfare and infrastructure projects.

The government has a target to raise 400 billion rupees ($8.9 billion) through such share sales in the fiscal year beginning April 1.

(Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703386704576185751733995470.html)