Engineering and construction company Jaiprakash Associates Ltd has deferred a planned sale of shares in its unit Jaypee Infratech after share prices of the subsidiary fell 8.5 percent on Wednesday, the parent company said.

"In view of today's unusual fall in the share price of Jaypee Infratech ... Jaiprakash Associates Ltd has decided to defer the said offer for sale," the company said in a statement late on Wednesday.

Jaiprakash Infratech, which builds roads and homes primarily in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, had planned to sell 98.5 million shares on Thursday to raise up to $94 million to meet the market regulator's guidelines on minimum public shareholding.

On Tuesday, Jaiprakash Associates, which owns about 83 percent of Jaypee Infratech, had said it would sell 27.9 million shares to institutional investors with an option to increase it by another 70.6 million.