Hutch decision deferred, more details sought

New Delhi, Mar 29 (UNI) Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has deferred a decision whether to approve Vodafone's plan to buy Hutchison Telecom's share in the country's fourth largest mobile company Hutchison Essar, a senior official said today.

''The decision has been deferred. We have sought more comments from the company which the latter is ready to give,'' Finance Secretary Ashok Jha said after the two-and-half hour meeting here.

The Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd (HTIL) last month agreed to sell a majority stake in Hutchison Essar, the country's fourth-largest carrier, to Britain's Vodafone Group Plc for 11.1 billion dollars.

The FIPB had sought views from the RBI and the Department of Telecom (DoT) to look into the shareholding structure of Hutch Essar, after some MPs wrote to the Finance Ministry alleging breach of the FDI limit, as the country allows foreign ownership of up to 74 per cent in a domestic telecom firm.

The telecom giant agreed to purchase a 67 per cent stake in Hutchison Essar back in mid-last month while the remaining 33 per cent is owned by Essar but two thirds of this is controlled via an offshore tax workaround.

UNI