The Telecom Commission has approved the state-run Telecommunication Consultants of India Limited?s (TCIL) plan to sell its stake in Bharti Hexacom to raise funds to meet its capital expenditure requirements.
Bharti Hexacom is a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel and offers telecom services in Rajasthan and the North-east region. Currently, the company has a total subscriber base of 18 million.
Following the approval by the Telecom Commission, TCIL is now soon likely to appoint an independent advisor to recommend a reserve price for its 30 per cent stake in Bharti Hexacom.
TCIL is keen to sell its minority stake in Bharti Hexacom to raise funds since the Telecom Commission recently shelved its disinvestment plans, citing ?unfavourable market condition?. Over the next two years, TCIL is expected to require funds worth Rs 10 billion for implementing information and communication-based education projects in various states under the ?build own, operate and transfer? model. In addition, the company requires funds to deliver managed services in West Asia and African markets where it is currently implementing fibre-to-the-home projects on a deferred payment basis. TCIL is also diversifying to provide turnkey green energy solutions to telecom carriers in Saudi Arabia and Oman for powering their tower networks optimally.
Earlier, the consultancy firm, Deloitte had set a base price of Rs 18 billion for TCIL?s 30 per cent stake in Bharti Hexacom. The base price was pegged to be too low by the then cabinet secretary KM Chandrasekhar, as a result of which the stake sale could not be completed.
