Divestment Minister Arun Shourie said on Tuesday that the government had not set a date for its privatisation panel's next meeting, but the number of asset sales due for approval had increased in recent months.

"Work is going on each one of them and it has reached the final stages in many cases," Shourie told a news conference, but declined to name the companies involved.

Divestment ministry officials had said in December that stake sales in at least three firms, Shipping Corporation of India, Hindustan Copper and Engineers India, were in advanced stages.

Asked when he expected the privatisation panel to meet, Shourie replied: "When enough cases are accumulated, but the fact, is the number of cases are ripening."

He said the much-delayed initial public offering of shares of the country's largest car maker, Maruti Udyog Ltd, a unit of Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp, was likely to hit the market in the first week of June.

India's privatisation panel last met in late January and approved sales of stakes in two cash-rich oil refiners, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd.

The government's privatisation programme, launched more than a decade ago, has faced fierce opposition from trade unions, opposition parties and at times, elements within the ruling coalition. It has consistently failed to meet annual targets.

The sell-off of the two refiners, which control 40 per cent of India's $15 billion retail oil products market, is its biggest initiative.

The government plans to complete their sales by October, after delays since September 2002.

Last month, more than a dozen firms ranging from US oil major Chevron Texaco to Malaysia's Petronas submitted initial bids for a stake in Hindustan Petroleum.

"We have received expressions of interest by strong parties," Shourie said.

The government holds 51 per cent in Hindustan Petroleum and plans to sell a controlling 34 per cent to an investor and shed majority control in Bharat Petroleum by diluting its stake through a public share issue.

Shares of Indian state-run firms, one of fund managers' most fancied sectors, have held most of the past year's gains despite a big decline in the broader market.