Shares in India's largest carmaker will be offered to the public by the end of March at the latest, the government's privatisation specialists have promised.

The government's 46% stake in Maruti - the rest belongs to Japanese carmaker Suzuki - has been part of the disinvestment programme for some time.

But cabinet rows over two oil sell-offs between economic liberals and Hindu nationalist hardliners have held up the programme, which was meant to produce income of 120bn rupees ($2.5bn; �1.5bn) in the financial year to March.

No other sell-offs are expected this financial year, Disinvestment Secretary Pradip Baijal told reporters.

With income from disinvestment standing at 35bn rupees for the year to date, and only 7-8bn expected from the sale of 20% of Maruti, the programme is now certain to fall well short, boosting the country's budget deficit.

Joint venture

Getting rid of Maruti has taken India's government a long time.

Suzuki first bought a stake more than five years ago, with the intervening years producing arguments over management control and strategy on a regular basis.

The idea was to resuscitate a company which had been beset by inefficiency.

It remains the country's biggest carmaker, manufacturing a third of the 600,000 new cars sold in India every year.

Slowing sales meant Maruti made its first ever loss - of 2.69bn rupees - in the year to March 2001. But the following year produced a net profit of 1.05bn rupees, thanks to cost cutting and productivity gains.

Stalled

The Japanese partner took over control of what had been a 50-50 joint venture in May 2002, and the government had intended to move swiftly on with its initial public offering.

But the Cabinet row thwarted that plan.

But a reshuffle this week has strengthened the hand of the government's sell-off guru, Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie.

The urgency implied by the Maruti announcement amounts to a statement of intent, observers said.