A compact, low cost high intensity discharge lamp ballast apparatus which can carry out normal ballasting without extinction at discharge start includes a DC-AC inverting booster circuit, a first resonance circuit, and a second resonance circuit. The DC-AC inverting booster circuit includes a DC-AC converter transformer for converting a DC voltage fed from a DC power supply to an AC voltage in response to switching on and off of FETs, boosting the voltage. The first resonance circuit includes a leakage inductance connected in series with the secondary winding of the DC-AC converter transformer, and a first resonant capacitor connected in parallel with the secondary winding. The second resonance circuit includes a metal halide lamp, an ignitor transformer for producing a voltage to start lighting of the metal halide lamp, and a second resonant capacitor.