The Indian government's efforts to privatise a range of state-owned businesses has been given a boost by a judge who has thrown out a challenge to its plans to sell a controlling stake of the aluminium firm Balco.

A court hearing into the sale of a 51% stake of the Bharat Aluminum Company had been seen as a test-case by the government of its first major privatisation.

Following the latest ruling, the path could be laid for a quick sell-off of 13 state-run firms lined up for privatisation.

The court stressed that it is the job of parliament and "not for the courts to consider the merits of economic policies".

Court challenge

The controversial Balco sale had caused an uproar in the Indian state of Chattisgarh where the regional government filed a petition with the court in a bid to render it illegal.

In addition, almost 7,000 workers went on strike for two months during early spring to protest the sell-off, amidst widespread concern about its effect on jobs.

The workers only reluctantly returned to work after securing guarantees that they would be paid for the 67 days the strike was on, along with assurances that there would be no job cuts following the sell-off.

Opposition politicians had also been angered by the government's determination to push the sale through.

Their angry protests, along with allegations about corruption and poor transparency, overshadowed the Indian parliament's day-to-day business for about a week.

Ambitious plans

Sterlite bought the 51% controlling stake in Balco from the Indian government for 5.51bn rupees ($117.7m) and said it planned to turn the plant into the largest in the world.

Set up in 1965 using technology from the former Soviet Union, Balco's operations include a 200,000-tonne-a-year plant and a smelter with production capacity of 100,000 tonnes a year.

Earlier this year, Sterlite group chairman Anil Agarwal estimated losses from the first month of the strike were one billion rupees.