The Centre?s plan to divest 5% stake in Steel Authority of India (SAIL), which was expected to be the first in its Rs 58,425-crore disinvestment programme, may be delayed because of the weak share price of the company, government and banking sources told FE.

The Centre was planning to raise at least Rs 1,800 crore from SAIL?s divestment, and the plan hinged upon a share price of Rs 88-92.

However, as of Wednesday, shares of the company closed at Rs 68.95, more than a 35% drop from the year-high of Rs 110.15 in June. The book value of SAIL shares are pegged at Rs 104.845 per share as per Bloomberg estimates. There was no confirmation on when the SAIL divestment could take place now.

As reported by FE earlier, the bankers and the government were busy preparing to divest SAIL by the last week of September or first week of October. They were also preparing for stake sales in Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Coal India, and National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC).

The roadshows were already underway, and modality on pricing and timing were being worked out. ?Everything is ready. We are in the last week of September and still nothing has progressed on the disinvestment front,? said a person familiar with the development, requesting anonymity. Banking sources also said that the start to the FY15 disinvestment programme was delayed, in part, because of finance minister Arun Jaitley?s health concerns.

The stake-sales need to get the final nod from a empowered disinvestment panel comprising Jaitley, transport minister Nitin Gadkari, and the concerned minister of the company being divested.

While an official in the finance ministry confirmed that SAIL had been delayed because of pricing concerns, Jaitley?s health being partly responsible for the delay was dismissed as ?speculation?.

For FY15, the government is targeting a minimum of R43,425 crore from stake sale in 11 PSUs, and R15,000 crore from the sale of its stake in Hindustan Zinc-Balco for FY15. As reported by FE earlier it could outstrip the targets by R15,000 crore. The disinvestment department has already got CCEA nods for SAIL, Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL), Rashtriya Ispat Nigam (RINL) and HZL-Balco, Coal India, ONGC, and NHPC.

SAIL was to be followed by the blockbuster stake sales of the public sector behemoths Coal India and ONGC, which on their own could fetch more than R41,000 crore. Sources had said the the two issues could happen after Diwali.

They could not confirm if a delay in SAIL would lead to a domino effect for other stake sales.

?We have to be ready. The government will decide when to conduct share sale because is the sole issuer of shares here,? said another person, asking not to be named. Coal India has lost close to 16% from its respective highs of R423.85 per share in June on the BSE, while ONGC has declined close to 12% from the peak R472 over the same time-period.

Industry observers said the Centre will conduct stake sale at regular intervals rather than crowding the market and squeezing out liquidity. There is appetite in the market and issues will receive good participation, but all depends on the quantum of discount the government offers and price its sets, said one person who is part of the disinvestment deal.