The Hindu Business Line : Mahanagar Gas may consider public listing next quarter

GAIL and BG hold 49.7 per cent stake in MGL while the Maharashtra Government holds the remaining. The company has to reduce its promoters' shareholding to 35 per cent each before December 31, 2005 as per the Foreign Investments Promotion Board (FIPB) guidelines. The companies may consider the offer as stock markets considering the favourable response to recent public offerings by various companies including oil majors.

"As per the FIPB guidelines, BG and GAIL will have to reduce share holding in MGL to 35 per cent; 10 per cent will have to go to the Maharashtra State Government, while the rest will be held by the public," Mr A.K. Purwaha, Managing Director, MGL, told Business Line.

MGL, which supplies 1.5 million cubic metres per day gas to 1.85 lakh Mumbai households, has meanwhile lined up ambitious expansion plans worth Rs 450 crore.

"We plan to lay 150 km of additional steel pipes as a preparation for supplying natural gas to the Thane-Belapur industrial belt in addition to households in Navi Mumbai and Thane, extending it up to Pune. We would like to lay down the basic pipeline network to these areas before Gail's Dahej-Hazira-Uran gas pipeline brings gas to Maharashtra from Petronet's Dahej LNG terminal so we can tap that as a source," Mr Purwaha said.

The company is negotiating with GAIL for partnering it in setting up a city gas distribution network in Pune. It has also been negotiating with Petronet LNG and Shell, which is building its LNG import terminal at Hazira in Gujarat for 1.5 million cubic metres a day gas supplies.

The company recently lowered piped natural gas rates for Mumbai by 20 per cent according to the recommendations of a committee set up last year under the chairmanship of the Petroleum Secretary, Mr Vijay Raghavan.