On 5 July, 2011, the Telecom Commission will decide whether to hive off or demerge into a new entity, Tata Communications? (formerly VSNL) 773.13 acres of surplus land.
Prior to this, Kapil Sibal, Minister of Communications and IT had established a panel that recommended the Department of Telecommunications? (DoT) using the surplus land to form a new realty company. This method was the first of three that had been proposed for separating the land from the company.
The three-member panel investigating the delay in the demerger of the 773 acres of surplus land after the privatisation of VSNL has held the Tata Group responsible for the delay. It had said the government should acquire 51.12 per cent stake in this realty firm and nominate the majority of directors in it.
Panatone Finvest Limited, a Tata Group company had acquired controlling stake in VSNL in 2002, for Rs 14.39 billion, as part of the disinvestment programme of the then NDA government.
