Concerned over growing resistance from the Opposition and some of the allies of the ruling National Democratic Alliance, the divestment ministry appears to have given up hopes of any big-ticket privatisation like Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation in the near future.

On the day industrial workers and employees of banks and insurance sector observed a nation-wide strike to protest the government's privatisation policy, some of the officials associated with the divestment process felt the whole programme had gone into "coma".

"The shop is virtually closed and there may not be any major privatisation during the next year or so till the general elections," they said on condition of anonymity.

The last big ticket divestment undertaken by the government was in June last year when it privatised IPCL where Reliance bought the government's stake along with management control.

The sources, however, clarified that though there was no visible opposition from higher ups (in the ministry), the initiative had fizzled out somehow or the other.

They added that no meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Divestment, Core Group of Secretaries on Divestment or inter-ministerial group on either of the oil PSUs HPCL and BPCL, which were cleared for privatisation after a protracted controversy, was held so far during this month.