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Our Bureau

New Delhi, Nov 14 The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has asked SingTel to spell out the details of the Indian partner for its proposed venture for long distance telephony services, primarily targeting enterprises.

Deferring SingTel’s proposal in its last meeting, the board also noted that the no-objection certificate issued by SingTel’s existing partner (in ongoing ventures) Bharti Group was “conditional and ambiguous”.

“SingTel did not specify the details of the Indian partner in the new venture and it would not be proper to consider a proposal in the telecom services without clarity on the Indian partner. The proposal was deferred and the board asked DoT to give comments on two issues – the desirability of permitting FDI in a new venture for telecom services in which the Indian partner has not yet been identified, and the activities which may be permitted by the FIPB in view of the conditional no-objection given by the existing partners,” sources said.

SingTel Australia Holding, Singapore, recently approached FIPB for setting up a subsidiary or joint venture in India entailing FDI up to 74 per cent for telecom services. While its application to FIPB did not mention the Indian partner, sources close to the development said that Bharti Group would hold 9.9 per cent stake in the new joint venture company and had given a conditional no-objection to the proposed venture.

Sources had pointed out that the move was necessitated as SingTel’s Australian subsidiary wanted to offer international connectivity to its corporate clients in India. The venture was primarily targeted at multinational companies which require global connectivity.

At present, while Pastel Ltd (a SingTel Group company), holds 15.6 per cent in the paid-up capital of Bharti Airtel, it also holds 32.81 per cent in the paid-up share capital of Bharti Telecom Ltd.

More Stories on : Foreign Direct Investment | Telecommunications

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