Ircon Intl Ltd in talks with BT,Telstra,Enron,Tata,ICICI for JV
irconinternational.com
NEW DELHI, Nov. 14 (bl)
IRCON is in talks with British Telecom, Telstra, Enron Telecom, Tata Telecom, BSES and ICICI to forge a joint venture for laying optical fibre cables on the Delhi-Mumbai section of Indian Railways.
Ircon, a public sector enterprise under the Ministry of Railways, will hold 50 per cent of the equity in the Rs. 100-crore project, while the remaining 50 per cent equity will be distributed between two or three joint venture partners.
The joint venture company will have an Indian partner holding a nominal stake to fall in line with the policy that foreign firms cannot hold more than 49 per cent equity in a telecom venture.
The company is negotiating with the short-listed joint venture partners and the final selection will be made shortly, officials said.
Ircon has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Railways for laying optical fibre cables along the 1,500 km-long Delhi-Mumbai section.
According to the MoU, Ircon will lay the cables using the right of way offered by Indian Railways, sell lines to telecom players and share 20 per cent of the profits accruing from the project with the Ministry of Railways. Besides, the Ircon joint venture will also provide dedicated lines for the requirement of Railways free of cost.
Ircon has already started work on the Ahmedabad-Vadodara stretch of the Delhi-Mumbai section. The amount spent by Ircon on the Ahmedabad-Vadodara stretch will be treated as Ircon's equity in the joint venture. |
