UTI Asset Management, India's oldest money manager, has cancelled plans for a listing after India’s benchmark stock market index suffered its worst first half on record, according to media reports quoting unnamed sources.

UTI, based in Mumbai, had proposed to sell 48.5 million shares, according to an offer document filed with the Securities & Exchange Board of India on 9 January. The money manager is required to complete the IPO by 21 July or restart the process, under Indian rules. The process may be revived later.

The money manager joins more than 160 companies, including Indian real estate developer Emaar MGF Land and Wockhardt Hospitals, that have delayed or cancelled IPOs worldwide this year as faltering global economic growth led investors to abandon equities. The withdrawal is a blow for UTI's owners, who can't raise funds from selling stakes they bought in 2005.

A spokeswoman for UTI Asset Management declined to comment.

The asset management firm planned the share sale after the Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensitive Index climbed 47 per cent last year, making it Asia's best performer after China and Bangladesh. The index is down 32 per cent this year, however, as interest rates climbed to a six-and-a-half year high after surging fuel and foods costs drove inflation to a 13-year record.