Tata Communications denies charges on VSNL deal

Stoutly denying charges that it had deliberately delayed a final decision on the fate of surplus land owned by former public sector telecom major VSNL Ltd, Tata Communications on Thursday said it had made several attempts seeking demerger of the surplus land.

In a letter to telecommunications minister Kapil Sibal, who had earlier this week raised concerns over the disinvestment of VSNL in 2002 by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, Subodh Bhargava, chairman, Tata Communications, said the company was still awaiting the response of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to the scheme of demerger.

The board of Tata Communications has two directors nominated by the government and they have been apprised on all these issues, added Bhargava, giving a summary of the developments since 2005. Tata Communications would be more than willing to share all the facts with the minister or an officer deputed by him and wants a speedy resolution of the demerger issue, he added.

In a note to the telecom secretary, Sibal had raised concerns over the manner of the demerger of nearly 775 acres of surplus land owned by VSNL, which not only hurt the interests of investors, but also of the government.

He had also called for a high-level probe into the issue.

The DoT has directed an additional secretary to probe the matter relating to the disinvestment of VSNL. The report is expected by the end of the month.