The Hindu Business Line : Tata Group to invest $2 b in telecom biz

IN order to expand and grow its telecom business, the Tata Group has earmarked investments of $2 billion (Rs 9,000 crore) to be made in over the next two years in Tata Teleservices.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the inaugural session of 3rd Asia Pacific Executive Forum organised by the East West Centre and Confederation of Indian Industry, Mr Kishor Chaukar, Managing Director, Tata Industries, said, "We are committing about $2 billion to the telecom business and this will be done through a mix of debt and equity. We have no plans as of now to list Tata Teleservices," He added that investments of about $1.5 billion have already been made.

The new investment would be made to expand the existing CDMA network, he added.

Tata Teleservices is currently operating in Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. It has also got licences to operate in Kerala, Punjab, Haryana, UP (West), UP (East), Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar and Orissa.

Besides the telecom business, the Group is also bullish on the media business. And direct-to-home (DTH) and broadband would be the drivers of this. Mr Chaukar said that it would target both households and corporates through its broadband network and would offer Internet as well as video streaming.

For some of the other businesses, the Tata Group is eyeing the Eastern markets. Mr Chaukar said that its automotive component company, Tata Automotive Components (TACO) would be looking at tapping the Eastern countries as well. It would like to leverage the low cost-production and high capacity production advantages available in these markets. The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Thailand could also work towards the company's advantage.

Others such as Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Tata Tea and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) would also focus on these markets.

On Voltas, Mr Chaukar said it is a good engineering company and that it would look at forging technological alliances for its consumer durables business such as air-conditioning.

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