Jet Airways' plans to raise $ 400 million through a share sale to foreign

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institutions may get delayed as the government today deferred a decision on the proposal of the private air carrier.

"The airline needs to bring its foreign holdings down in some way or other as it crosses the FDI cap (of 49 per cent) and then come back to us," an official source said.

The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), at a meeting on October 1, decided to defer the proposal after the Civil Aviation Ministry said the airline was breaching the FDI guideline, sources said.

The Ministry has already asked the airline to comply with the FDI norms and bring down its foreign holding below 49 per cent.

The airline spokesperson did not respond to e-mail queries.

In August, after the annual general meeting of the airline, Jet chairman Naresh Goyal had said that the carrier has sought government's permission to dilute up to a 20 per cent stake and had already applied to the FIPB.

Goyal, however, had declined to specify any timeframe for the same.

The largest domestic airline company had then also announced it plans to raise $ 400 million through Qualified Institutional Placements (QIP).

According to the shareholding pattern available with the National Stock Exchange, the airline has 79.99 per cent foreign holding in the form of Non-Resident individuals as on June 30, 2010.

Shares of the company were closed at Rs 817.15 apiece on the Bombay Stock Exchange, up 1.01 per cent