The company, which had unveiled a Rs 1.6 lakh three-seater small car li'L earlier this month, is in the process of finalising the merchant banker and underwriter for the issue, Chhabria told UNI here.

``We have already corporatised DC Designs and shed 15 per cent equity in favour of a private foreign company. We have targetted to shed a total of 35 per cent stake in the company as part of the corporatising exercise,'' Chhabria said.

He, however, refused to divulge details of the foreign partner.Regarding the IPO, he said, ``we have just decided to go ahead with the public issue...The details are currently being worked out. We will shortly decide on the quantum of shares and the percentage to be divested to the Indian public.''``This is as part of our plans to expand our reach and go national,'' Dilip said. The equity capital of DC Designs at present in Rs 18 crore.

Till recently, DC Designs was a proprietary concern and Dilip said he was moving towards corporatising it. ``I had to expand my reach and needed funds for that.''

As part of his plans to go national, Dilip is putting up similar redesigning centres in Delhi, Bangalore, Baroda, Calcutta, Ludhiana, Chennai and Kerala.``I would only be setting up one or two more centres on my own and the rest would be franchisee-held,'' he said adding that all the centres would be in place over the next one year. The company is in the process of selecting the partners for the ventures. ``We have received several enquiries from probable suitors. Our partner has to be as passionate about cars as we are, otherwise it will not serve the purpose.''

Regarding li'L, mr chhabria said the car would have a build-up cost of Rs 80,000 per unit and can be made available with an on-road price tag of Rs 1.6 lakh. ``It would be half the length of maruti 800 and two-feet shorter than the Mercedes Smart.''

However, Chhabria is not keen on commercially producing the car himself. ``The design would be put up for sale...I would invite any manufacturer to examine the viability and buy the design and project and commercially produce it.''

The car would sport an oval square body and would be wider than the Maruti 800 to have a seating capacity of three persons upright. It has been powered by a two-cylinder engine procured from Lambordini of italy and a four-speed gearbox.

``The idea was to introduce a base level car for a person who wants to upgrade from a two-wheeler and still wants a car with drop dead good looks and aesthetics. I feel that though smaller than Maruti 800 and priced so close to it, the vehicle has the capability of eating into Maruti's marketshare. I wanted to offer a car that people want to possess,'' Chhabria added.

This would mark the foray of DC Designs into production of a completely new vehicle on an independent platform. DC Designs is a renowned name in the arena of redesigning automobiles.

The vehicle has been built at DC Design's Silvasa unit, which has a capacity to produce 20,000 cars and bike modules.