The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) may revisit Telecom Consultants India?s (TCIL) stake sale in the Bharti-Hexacom joint venture, say news reports. In 2009, a Cabinet committee had approved the sale of TCIL’s 30 per cent stake in the joint venture, on the condition that it was done at the correct price.
The DoT is expected to conduct a threadbare analysis of the stake sale. Thereafter, the DoT will recommend if the Indian government should proceed with the stake sale. Consultants appointed by TCIL to oversee its exit had in, December of 2010, set the reserve price for the stake sale at Rs 18.02 billion, valuing Hexacom at around Rs 60 billion.
Bharti and Punj Lloyd were earlier in the fray to buy TCIL’s stake. However, both companies withdrew their bids due to a delay in the sale process. It is also believed that DoT may not proceed with a single bidder for the sale.
