The Hindu Business Line : Virgin telecom foray details by February

New Delhi, Nov. 19 The UK-based Virgin Group is to make an announcement about its telecommunication venture in India within the next two-and-a-half months and would also like to set up a domestic airline, its founder, Sir Richard Branson said on Monday.

“I love coming to India and will be back in two-and-a-half months; so I will save that announcement for then and not jeopardise my trip,” he said, when asked whom the tie-up would be with. While Sir Richard refused to divulge details of the telecommunication venture, Virgin Mobiles is likely to tie up with Tata Teleservices.

Airline plans

The Group is still nurturing plans of starting a domestic airline, for which an application is pending with the Indian Government. “We would love to fly in the domestic skies. If the market is ever opened to true competition, you would find Virgin flying side-by-side with Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways,” Sir Richard said.

At the moment, the Indian Government does not allow international airlines to acquire a direct or indirect stake in domestic airlines. To overcome this hurdle, Sir Richard has requested the Government to consider the investment as his personal investment, and not from the airline.

Bollywood venture?

In future, Virgin also hopes to make its debut in Bollywood. This is likely to be on the back of its foray into comic books for which it has a tied up with Gotham Entertainment Group. Some of the characters created could be developed into films, Sir Branson said. “It could be our entry into Bollywood,” he said.

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