OREANDA-NEWS. March 10, 2011. India, which raised only half its target from share sales in the past 12 months, plans to defer offers by Oil & Natural Gas Corp. and Indian Oil Corp. because of rising crude prices and a faltering stock market, a government official with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The sale of a 140 billion rupee (USD 3.1 billion) stake in state-owned ONGC will be pushed to May or June, the official said, asking not to be identified before a public announcement. A plan to sell shares in Indian Oil in the nation’s biggest offering may be delayed to the end of the year starting April 1, the official said.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said Feb. 28 India needs to sell 400 billion rupees of stock in state-run companies to trim the budget deficit to a four-year low. His challenges include attracting investors to the world’s fourth-worst performing stock market and a 29 percent surge in crude oil in the past year, analyst Jagannadham Thunuguntla said.

“Half the budgeted money is expected to come from oil refiners and volatile oil prices and stock market conditions will pose the biggest threat,” said Thunuguntla, chief strategist at New Delhi-based brokerage SMC Global Securities Ltd. “The government needs to prepare a Plan B in case the uncertainties increase.” ONGC Chairman A.K. Hazarika and Indian Oil Finance Director S.V. Narasimhan declined to comment.