The initial public offer of Indraprastha Gas Ltd has already been oversubscribed 2.5 times much before the closing date of December 5.

The managing director of IGL, A K De, told reporters in Kolkata on Monday that the response to the issue had been extremely well with 10 crore (100 million) applications already received against 4 crore (40 million) equity shares that were being offered to the public at Rs 10 each in a price band of Rs 40 to Rs 48.

De said IGL had plans to expand in places like Noida, Gurgaon and Faridabad, for which the company had obtained sanction of Rs 300 crore (Rs 3 billion) from the Oil Industry Development Board.

He said the expansion would be funded by debt and internal accruals.

The current issue was being made to make an exit route for UTI, IL&FS and IDFC, which jointly have 50 per cent in the company. The three investors have decided to sell 28.57 per cent of their holdings in the current capital market scenario.

The company distributes piped natural gas and compressed natural gas in Delhi for use in commercial vehicles.

In the FY 2002-03, the company posted a net profit of Rs 58.7 crore (Rs 587 million) on a turnover of Rs 309 crore (Rs 3.09 billion).