India is unlikely to complete an initial public offering of the country's largest carmaker, Maruti Udyog Ltd, in 2002-03 because it needs more time to prepare the prospectus, a government official said on Thursday.

"The Maruti IPO will not happen this year because it's taking time to finalise the prospectus," Divestment Secretary Pradip Baijal told reporters on the sidelines of a business conference. He did not say when the sale would take place.

The government had hoped to complete the stake sale in the current financial year ending March 31 and had expected to raise Rs 700-800 crore (Rs 7-8 billion) from the IPO. Maruti is majority owned by Japan's Suzuki Corp.

Baijal also said a ministerial panel would meet next week to decide on the number of shares of oil refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp to be sold in international and domestic markets.