Mumbai: The ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has been extended till next week to allow negotiators more time to narrow differences amidst hopes for a consensus.

The ministerial meeting of 35 trade ministers from member countries of the WTO, that began on 21 July, was to end today. It will now last till middle of the next week.

WTO Chief Pascal Lamy has circulated fresh proposals on agriculture and industrial products, linking flexibilities to developing countries with sectoral initiatives, which India has all along been objecting.

As per the proposal on sectorals, ''any developing country member participating in the final sectoral initiative will be permitted to increase its coefficients commensurate with its level of participation in sectoral initiative."

India is opposing the proposals on special products and special safeguard mechanism, Indian officials said.

The US and EU wants India and other emerging economies to scrap tariff on the automobile sector under the so-called 'zero-to-zero' or zero-for-x' sectoral initiatives.

The EU, which  is facing large scale industrial problems at home, is seeking more tariff cuts from emerging economies in exchange of some reduction in agricultural subsidies.

''There is no agreement but there are certain areas of concerns, certain areas of consensus," commerce minister Kamal Nath said emerging from the negotiations.

''In areas which affect livelihood and security, which affect poverty, there is no agreement, there is no consensus. In areas that enhances prosperity there is some consensus," he added.

With key figures for cuts in tariffs and farm subsidies increasing to 65 per cent from fifty-fifty before the ministerial meeting began on Monday, the chance of reaching a deal on so-called modalities have brightened, said Brazilian foreign minister Celso Amorim.

Ministers from seven key trading countries Australia, Brazil, China, the European Union, India, Japan and the United States held an exclusive meeting on Friday afternoon.

The meeting generated ''very encouraging signs of progress" and ''interesting ideas," said WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell.

While most countries stuck to their hard stance bringing talks to the brink, ''the talks have not collapsed. All ministers have agreed to be here,'' commerce secretary Gopal Pillai said.

Pillai said while broad issues in agriculture and non-agriculture market access have been discussed, areas such as cotton, preference erosion and tariff simplification have not yet not been touched.

''We have only finished part of the issues.'' he said. With not much headway in the agriculture and NAMA talks, the services conference was left untouched, he added.

There is still hope for the deal, he said.