Telenor in talks for fresh Indian partner

Norwegian telecom firm Telenor is in talks with several potential new partners in India, chief executive Jon Fredrik Baksaas said in Oslo on Wednesday.

"There are talks in many directions, I can assure you, and many who wish to speak to us as well," Baksaas told reporters on the sidelines of a capital markets event in Norway's capital.

"There is not really anything concrete to say about this yet, but ... we wish to go further in India, provided that the framework at last will be in place, and that we also can see a profitability developing on a new investment in India," he said.

Unitech, the telecom joint venture in which Telenor held a majority stake, was among those who saw its spectrum and licences cancelled by the Supreme Court in February this year. In any case Telenor's partnership with Indian real estate developer Unitech was on shaky ground over raising of extra capital for expansion.

Baksaas's comments come two days after a Gurgaon district court dismissed Unitech's plea and allowed the Scandinavian company to participate in the upcoming spectrum auction with a new partner. Telenor is seeking greater control over future investments in its Indian operations. It has no immediate plans to raise the peak funding beyond the stated level of Rs15,500 crore in Uninor.

Uninor, in which Telenor holds 67.25 per cent, has sought an amendment in India's external commercial borrowing norms to raise funds for the spectrum auction. It wants the government to scrap the existing $750-million cap on raising funds through the ECB route.