CBI examines documents of PSUs for role in 2G Spectrum scam

Mumbai/New Delhi, Jan 12 (PTI) After registering aPrelimnary Enquiry into the role of banks in 2G spectrum scam,CBI today examined documents of some public sector banks whichhad given loans to some real estate firms by side steppinglaid-down procedures.

Highly-placed sources in the agency said documents ofsome of the banks in Delhi and Mumbai were examined by thesleuths of CBI''s Bank Securities and Fraud Cell and the bankswere asked about the files under which the loans were grantedto telecom companies, especially Uninor and STel.

Widening its probe into the 2G spectrum allocation scam,CBI has registered a PE to probe the role of certain publicsector banks, including the State Bank of India, for providingloans to certain companies which were allocated the 2GSpectrum licenses in 2007-08.

Under the PE, which was registered against unnamedbank officials and companies, CBI can only examine thedocuments and not seize them.

The allegation is that some banks had violated the laid-down norms and provided finance to the two real estatecompanies which made forays into the telecom market byprocuring the spectrum auctioned during the said period, thesources said.

This is the second PE registered by CBI in connectionwith the 2G spectrum scam besides a regular case againstunnamed officials of the Department of Telecom and privatecompanies.

According to the PE, the banks sanctioned loans to thetune of Rs 11,500 crore to the two real estate companies byallegedly ignoring risk factors, given that the CentralVigilance Commission (CVC) had already registered a case inthe 2G scam and CBI had begun its probe.

The public sector banks had given Rs 10,000 crore toUnitech-Telenor consortium and Rs 1,538 crore to STel, basedjust on the licence papers issued by the Department of Telecom(DoT).

Out of the Rs 10,000-crore loan to Uninor, a jointventure between Unitech and Telenor of Norway, the State Bankof India sanctioned a loan of Rs 8,050 crore to the consortiumduring 2009-2010 out of which the company had picked up Rs 500crore so far.

The other banks which gave money to Uninor were SouthIndian Bank, Corporation Bank, Allahabad Bank, Canara Bank,Oriental Bank, Central Bank of India, Punjab National Bank,Standard Chartered Bank and Yes Bank.

STel got Rs 1538-crore loan from IDBI and IDBITrusteeship Services Limited during the period between July toNovember 2009.

In December last year, the Supreme Court had come downheavily on public sector banks for their role in the 2Gspectrum scam.