A panel of Indian ministers on Wednesday decided to postpone the planned sale of shares in state-run National Aluminium Co. (532234.BY) to next year.
The share sale was scheduled to open Friday.
It will now take place only after the aluminum producer announces its October-December financial results, federal minister for mines, Dinsha Patel, told reporters after a meeting of the panel.
"We will discuss the issue sometime in January," the minister said, but didn't give any reasons for the panel's decision.
The decision deals another blow to India's disinvestment program that has failed to take off despite more than half of the fiscal year already past. In October, the government deferred a sale of shares in steelmaker Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd. due to differences with its bankers over the pricing of the issue.
The government plans to raise 300 billion rupees ($5.6 billion) by selling shares in state-run companies to reduce its budget deficit in the fiscal year through March. Analysts are now worried how New Delhi will meet the target.
Disinvestment Secretary Haleem Khan, who was also present at the meeting, tried to calm those concerns, saying the government will sell stakes in three other companies--Hindustan Copper Ltd. (513599.BY), NMDC Ltd. (526371.BY) and Oil India Ltd. (533106.BY)--by the end of December.
The government hopes to raise 120 billion rupees by selling shares in these three companies, he added.
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