The government today invited applications to appoint merchant bankers for advising it on the proposed public offer of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, ONGC. The finance ministry said in a public statement, it is being targeted to hit the market in March. The government plans to sell 5 per cent of its stake in ONGC through the further or follow-on public offering. It can fetch 13,500 crore rupees at the current price. Interested parties can submit their proposals to the government by 14th of this month.AIR correspondent reports, post offer, the government shareholding in ONGC would come down to 69.14 per cent from current 74.14 per cent. As a precursor to the share sale, ONGC will split equity shares with a face value of 10 rupees each into two shares of five rupees each. It will also issue a free share to every shareholder. It is expected this will be an attractive level for retail investors to subscribe to the company.