Norway keen on investment in Indian telecom sector

Mumbai, Jan 30 (PTI) Norway has pledged full and long-term telecom investment interest in India and its governmenthas committed itself to providing the best possible servicesto the country''s fast-growing telecommunications sector.

Norway Government has a serious business interest inIndia and is committed to co-operation with New Delhi on along-term basis, Norwegian Trade and Industry Minister TrondGiske said in a statement here.

He said Norway aims to make a big success of itstelecom venture in India. Norwegian trade and industryrepresentatives met India''s Telecom Ministry officialsrecently.

Telenor, one of the leading global telecom companiesin which the Norwegian Government holds a 54 per cent equitystake, has a joint venture with India''s Unitech Wireless Ltd.

The joint venture is known here as Uninor.

The Indian telecommunications network has more than621 million connections as of 2010, making it the thirdlargest in the world. This figure is growing rapidly at therate of 45 per cent per annum.

Norway and other leading foreign players have investedin the telecom sector for a number of reasons. The IndianGovernment has done away with licensing for setting upmanufacturing units for telecom equipment.

Moreover, 100 per cent foreign direct investment FDIis permitted via the automatic route to make telecomequipment. Also, there is the facility of royalty payment,lump sum fee for transfer of technology and payment for use oftrademarks and brand names through this route.