The government has deferred UAE-based Etisalat and Bahrain Telecom’s proposal to increase their shareholding in Etisalat DB and S Tel respectively.

The government has deferred UAE-based Etisalat and Bahrain Telecom’s proposal to increase their shareholding in Etisalat DB and S Tel respectively. The decision has been taken after the Foreign Investment Promotion Board’s (FIPB) revenue department stated that the plans of these companies amount to “treaty shopping”, that is, taking the Mauritius route to bring investments into India. Etisalat, which currently has about 45 per cent stake in Etisalat DB, had sought the FIPB’s approval to buy out a 5.27 per cent equity stake from Chennai-based Genex Exim Ventures for about Rs 3.8 billion. Bahrain Telecom had also intended to increase its equity stake in S Tel from the current 42 per cent to more than 54 per cent.