The Indian government does not plan to privatise state-run telecom firms Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd before 2004, Communications Minister Pramod Mahajan said on Friday.
Mahajan's comments came days after India's flagging privatisation programme showed signs of revving up when the government announced it would sell stakes in two state-run oil refining companies.
Markets have been expecting the government to sell a part of its holding in MTNL which provides fixed-line, cellular and Internet access services in two of India's biggest telecom markets, Bombay and New Delhi.
"I am very sure there is no proposal for the divestment of MTNL and BSNL in the near future, and if you ask me what 'near future' is, it's 2004," Mahajan told reporters on the sidelines of a news conference.
"MTNL is already a largely disinvested company," he said.
Mahajan said the government could not put the unlisted BSNL on the block because its valuation was still to be worked out.
"BSNL is not even a listed company. How do you disinvest a company which is not even listed?"
BSNL, formed two years ago from the state-owned telecom department, is the leader in fixed-line telephone services across India, except New Delhi and Mumbai, where it does not operate.
India's decade-old privatisation drive got off to a slow start because of opposition from unions and political parties who accused the government of selling the family silver at low prices.
The sputtering drive moved into high gear earlier this year after the government successfully sold large stakes in Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd, an overseas telephone service provider, and IBP Co Ltd, an oil products retailer.
But the government, which hoped to raise Rs 120 billion ($2.49 billion) this financial year from its privatisation programme, has already admitted it will fall short of the target due to the delay in the sale of oil firms Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd and Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd.
It had raised only about Rs 31 billion in the first six months of the year.
At 2:34 p.m. shares of MTNL, which is also listed on the New York Stock Exchange, were quoting 1.89 per cent lower at Rs 103.75 on the Bombay Stock Exchange, in contrast to the 0.43 per cent rise on the main index.