The Department of Telecom has defended the decision to set off Rs 1,658 crore to Norway’s Telenor saying that the Empowered Group of Ministers had weighed all options before allowing the relaxation.
The Comptroller & Auditor General has questioned the decision as being against the auction guidelines. However, according to an internal DoT note, the Telecom Ministry has rejected these allegations.
According to the DoT, the decision to set off the entry fee, paid by Telenor in 2008 against the bid amount during the November 2012 auction, was taken because the Norwegian company was the promoter in both the entities.
In 2008, Telenor had formed a joint venture with Unitech while in 2012 the Norwegian firm partnered the promoters of Sun Pharmaceuticals.