Though exact details of the meeting held on Monday are under wraps, sources said the committee broadly decided on the procedural formalities. The disinvestment process is on track, sources said.

Finance minister Yashwant Sinha, however, refused to comment saying he was yet to ascertain details of the meeting. The government had decided to divest equity of four public sector undertakings this year to realise Rs 5,000 crore from disinvestment.

The four PSUs are Container Corporation of India (Concor), Gas Authority of India (GAIL), Indian Oil (IOC) and Videsh Sanchar Nigam (VSNL). The cabinet committee on information technology met on Monday under chairmanship of the finance minister. The finance minister said that the meeting considered operationalisation of recommendations of the taskforce on information technology. Thecabinet committee will meet again on Friday.

The finance minister expressed confidence that prices would stabilise in the coming weeks and said the government would keep a tight control over money supply to keep inflation under check.

Blaming seasonal factors for the recent spurt in prices, he said: "We are concerned by the soaring prices, but are confident that it would subside in the next few weeks, particularly with the forecast of a good monsoon this year."

Prices of fruits and vegetables have gone up due to seasonal factors. Prices of potatoes and onion crop had risen following a crop failure due to excessive heat this year. But with the arrival of monsoons, there are prospects of a good crop, he said.

Referring to the rise in edible oil prices, he said the government plans to import 1.5 lakh tonnes of palmolein fron Indonesia and Malaysia. Nafed has also been asked to release 8,000 tonnes of onions to stabilise prices.

Sinha said it is incorrect to say that the budget has stoked inflation.Neither is excess money supply responsible for it. Money supply last year was as high 17 per cent and the total borrowings amounted to Rs 86,000 crore, yet inflation was under check, he said.

But the government was aware that money supply can have a bearing on prices apart from seasonal factors and hence was keeping a tight control on money supply at 15 to 15.5 per cent. To put the blame on the budget for soaring prices was wrong as there was nothing in budget that could have had a cascading effect on prices, he maintained. Budget had not raised prices of fruits and vegetables nor had diesel prices and railway freight been increased. If at all budget has done anything it has reduced special customs duty to four per cent and reduced duty on edible oil to check prices.

Though imports of edible oil come under OGL, large-scale imports did not take place because of high international prices in major edible exporting Southeast Asian countries.