Sibal lobbies for loans to telcos with PM, Pranab

Mar 28, 2011 |

Correspondent

New Delhi

March 28: The telecom minister, Mr Kapil Sibal, met up with the Prime Minister and the finance minister on Monday in an attempt to free up finance for telecom firms. Banks have been reluctant to lend to the sector in the aftermath of the 2G scam. Banks, including those from the public sector, which had loaned money to the new telecom operators have come under CBI’s scanner. This had made banks shy of lending to telecom companies.

In an earlier letter to the PM on the issue, Mr Sibal had reportedly said that telecom companies had borrowed heavily to pay the 3G auction fees. There were now facing difficulty in raising funds to undertake the very business that formed the basis of valuation of spectrum. Among others, CBI is probing the loan of `1,200 crore which was given by public sector banks to Swan Telecom for the payment of Unified Access Service licence fees. The investigative agency is probing the role of former telecom minister, Mr A. Raja, his associates and certain former as well as serving officials of DoT in helping Swan Telecom and other private firms obtain these loans days before the allotment of UAS licences.

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