India's key privatisation panel will meet after elections in Gujarat to finalise the size of the stake sales in two oil companies, Divestment Minister Arun Shourie said.
The western state of Gujarat, which was rocked by communal riots earlier this year, will elect a new state assembly in polls scheduled for December 12.
"The cabinet committee on divestment will meet after the Gujarat elections. It depends on the prime minister's convenience," Shourie told reporters.
He announced earlier in the day, in the lower house of parliament, that the government's decision to press ahead with the stalled privatisation of the two oil firms, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd.
Shourie said the privatisation panel would decide at its next meeting on the size of the stakes to be sold in the two refiners, but work on the entire process would begin immediately.
"If obstructions are put, then it will not happen this year. Otherwise the sales can happen this year," Shourie replied, when asked about the time-frame of the stake sales. He did not give details.
India's privatisation drive, which gathered momentum earlier this year after the stake sales in a petrochemicals company and a telecommunication firm, ground to a halt in September after deep differences emerged over the sell-off pace.