NEW DELHI, Feb 4: The department of telecommunications (DoT) has finally ended a 30 month long uncertainty on Rajasthan circle's basic services and awarded the letter of intent to Shyam Telecom. The company has signed the licence with the DoT, declaring it as a big boost to the privatisation process in the country.Shyam Telecom which also operates cellphone services in Rajasthan is the sixth private operator to be awarded licence. Shyam Telecom is a leading manufacturer of telecom equipment in India and a pioneer in rural telephony. It was the highest bidder for the Rajasthan circle when the bids for privatisation of the services were opened in August 1995. It had quoted an amount of Rs 1,110 crore as licence fee for 15 years and the net present value (NPT) of Rs 450 crore discounted at 16 per cent against the reserve NPV of Rs 370 crore announced by DoT. Still the department of telecom rejected the bid, claiming mistakenly that it was below the reserve price in absolute terms.
It was only after 12government agencies including the law ministry, Telecom Commission, the TRAI and the cabinet studied the case and unequivocally cleared and unanimously recommended that Shyam's proposal was the given go ahead.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
