“SBI Caps was the lead arranger of the debt and we hope to sign the agreements for the syndicated loan by March end or early April,” D K Sarraf, ONGC Director (Finance), said.

The petrochemical complex, which will be built by February 2012, is being funded in 2.55:1 debt-equity ratio. ONGC holds 26 per cent stake in ONGC Petro-additions Ltd, the special purpose vehicle formed for setting up the chemical complex at the Dahej SEZ. Five per cent stake is with the Gujarat State Petroleum Corp (GSPC). ONGC may give another 19 per cent to state-run gas utility GAIL.

The company may consider selling up to 25 per cent stake in OPaL through an initial public offering (IPO) and the remaining may be given to a strategic investor.

“The IPO will happen at least one-and-a-half years from now when there is visible activity on ground,” Sarraf said.

ONGC will give 20-25 per cent stake to a foreign partner who is either a product offtaker or a marketer. ONGC is looking for someone who can sell the polymers the plant makes.

OPaL will use C2-C3 (ethane and propane) compounds extracted from imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) to make polymers at the proposed plant.

The Rs 1,100-crore plant to extract C2-C3 from the LNG that Petronet imports from Qatar would be ready by the end of the fiscal, while the petrochemical complex would come up by February 2012. ONGC would in the interim period sell C2-C3 compounds to companies like Reliance-owned IPCL or even export, an official said. GAIL had sought equity in OPaL as it already had a presence in petrochemical business.

The petrochemical complex would comprise of global scale cracker and downstream polymer plants, the official said.

This complex would be integrated with ONGC's C2-C3 plant, which is currently under execution (at Dahej) and Naphtha as feedstock from ONGC's operational units at Hazira and Uran.