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Norway's Telenor Group on Monday sought to distance itself from the alleged involvement of its Indian joint venture firm — Unitech Wireless — in the 2G scam. The Norwegian company said that if irregularities had occurred, as claimed by the CBI, it was before it bought a majority stake in the Unitech Group's telecom firm.
The CBI, in a charge-sheet filed on Saturday, named Unitech Wireless and its Managing Director, Mr Sanjay Chandra, for allegedly conspiring with the then Telecom Minister, Mr A. Raja, to get 2G licences illegally.
“This was a period prior to Telenor Group entering India. Unitech Wireless will argue its case in court, and we expect Mr Chandra to do the same,” the Oslo-based telecom company said. While the alleged irregularities took place between 2007 and January 2008, Telenor had invested Rs 6,120 crore for a 67.25-per cent ownership in Unitech Wireless in the latter half of 2008.
Telenor said that it has zero tolerance for corruption and supports the investigative and legal proceedings. “If any malpractice has indeed occurred, those responsible must be brought to book,” it added.
The company said that it invested in a company that already had a genuine licence issued by the Indian Government with all necessary approvals. “These investments were cleared by the Government of India at each stage. The investment was made into the operating company and not to its promoters,” Telenor said. Fearing the possibility of the Government cancelling the licences given to Unitech Wireless, the Norwegian company said it intends to fight for its rights.
The Department of Telecom is in the process of issuing show cause notices to some of the new players including Unitech Wireless and Etisalat DB for cancelling some of their licences. While the TRAI had suggested cancellation for failing to meet the roll out conditions, the Comptroller and Auditor General had said that the licences should be revoked because of irregularities in the process followed by DoT.
The CBI charge-sheet names both Unitech Wireless and Etisalat DB (then Swan Telecom) for entering into a conspiracy with Mr Raja. Foreign investors in the two companies — Telenor and Etisalat — have taken a stance that their investments should be kept in mind by the Government before taking a decision on the licences.
Fair treatment
Meanwhile, Norway's Prime Minister, Mr Jens Stoltenberg, has also sent a letter to Dr Manmohan Singh seeking fair treatment to Telenor. A Norwegian newspaper quoted the Deputy Trade Minister, Mr Rikke Lind, as saying that Telenor had asked the Norwegian authorities to engage in the case. “If there is something to the allegations that have been brought against our partner, then we distance ourselves strongly from it,” said a Telenor spokesperson. Telenor and Unitech are already at loggerheads over a proposed rights issue, with the latter obtaining a stay on the issue from a local court.
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