The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, on Saturday had discussions with his senior Cabinet colleagues about the implications of the Supreme Court's decision cancelling 122 licences for 2G spectrum. However, the meeting did not arrive at any decision.
The Telecom Minister, Mr Kapil Sibal, said: “This meeting was to inform senior ministers as to what the implications and ramifications of the judgement are. This group was not meant to take any decision.”
The meeting was attended by the Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, the Home Minister Mr P. Chidambaram, the Law Minister Mr Salman Khurshid, the Attorney-General Mr G. E. Vahanvati, and the Telecom Secretary, Mr R Chandrashekhar, besides Mr Sibal.
Mr Chandrashekhar apprised the meeting about the finer points of the judgement and its impact on the telecom sector, amidst fears that the FDI flow could be affected. He made a presentation about what the decision meant and how to move forward. “Ultimately, all the matters have to go to the Cabinet, so Government has to be informed in order to take a decision,” Mr Sibal added.
The meeting is also understood to have deliberated upon the auction to be carried out for the nearly 546 mhz of 2G spectrum vacated by nine telecom operators whose 122 licences across the country were cancelled by the Supreme Court. In this context, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has floated a pre-consultation paper seeking comments from stake-holders on guidelines for spectrum auction as directed by the apex court.
Foreign players
The situation has become difficult with some foreign operators such as Norway's Telenor and Russian company Sistema, whose licences have been cancelled, putting pressure on the government, asking it to safeguard their investments.
Telenor, a majority shareholder in Uninor, claims to have invested over Rs 14,000 crore in Indian operations while Sistema, a majority joint venture partner in Shyam-Sistema, has pumped in over $2.5 billion (about Rs 12,000 crore). Both are likely to participate in the forthcoming auction of 2G spectrum to continue their operations and secure their investments.