News of the reluctant agreement between the warring ministers saw the share price of Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum rise by 22% and 11% respectively on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Analysts believe the sale of the two companies, which between them control the domestic fuel market, should help government get closer to its target of 120 billion rupees ($US2.5 billion) in privatisation receipts this year. So far it has just managed just 50 billion rupees.