India's minister for privatisation on Friday said a much-awaited stake sale in state-run refiners Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited could go ahead as soon as the prime minister gave his approval.

"It depends on the PM's convenience," Divestment Minister Arun Shourie told reporters in Bangalore.

"We have prepared a note on this. The moment the PM indicates his convenience, a notification can be prepared and the meeting will be held," he said.

BPCL and HPCL control 40 per cent of the domestic oil products market with a wide network of retail stations across India.

The sale, which has been delayed due to objections raised by members of India's multi-party ruling coalition and opposition parties, will offer investors a readymade platform to tap India's $15-billion retail oil market.

Last month, the government referred the sale to the attorney general after opposition members demanded parliamentary approval for the divestment.

The attorney general said earlier this week there was no need for such approval.

Shourie declined to set a timeframe for the sale, which would have to be approved by a privatisation panel, headed by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

He said it was difficult to set a date for the meeting as two panel members, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh and Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani, had busy travel schedules till the end of the month.

The process could also be delayed by litigation or strikes by workers, he said.

"In India this (privatisation process) can be tripped at any time," Shourie said, declining to set a target date for the sale.

The government had budgeted to raise Rs 12,000 crore (Rs 120 billion) in the fiscal year ending March through the privatisation of state-run firms. It has since admitted that it will fall way short of this target due to the delays in the stake sales.

India's privatisation programme has failed to meet annual targets ever since the country launched the process a decade ago. India has 230 state firms, almost half of them loss-making, producing everything from steel to condoms.