Reliance Petro files prospectus

Reliance Petroleum today submitted the red herring prospectus for its initial public offering (IPO) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). This will be the largest IPO in the world for a greenfield project.

The company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries, proposes to launch a book-built issue of Rs 11,250 crore to Rs 13,500 crore. The issue might hit the capital market in April.

The proceeds of the issue will be utilised to part finance the company's Rs 27,000 crore investment in the special economic zone at Jamnagar in Gujarat. It has recently concluded a syndicated $1.5-billion (approximately Rs 6,750 crore) borrowing deal.

Reliance Petroleum is setting up a refinery with a crude oil processing capacity of 27 million tonnes a year (580,000 barrels a day) and the completion target is before 2008. It is also setting up polypropylene plant with an annual capacity of 900,000 tonnes.

The merchant bankers for the issue are DSP Merrill Lynch, JM Morgan Stanley, Enam Securities, ICICI Securities, Citi and SBI Caps.