BSNL's proposed acquisition of Zain on hold

Telecom major Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) today said its proposed acquisition of Kuwait's Zain Telecom is on hold, as the state-run firm has not got the required information from domestic company Vavasi, which was trying to rope in the PSU as a consortium partner for the deal.

"We had sought some information from Vavasi about the company itself, which we have not got. To that extent it can be implied that the acquisition of Zain Telecom is on hold," BSNL Chairman and Managing Director Kuldeep Goyal said.

Asked if BSNL is looking to approach Zain Telecom directly, he said "nothing like that at the moment".

The PSU, which today announced a partnership with the UK -based BT to offer managed global conferencing solutions to Indian corporate, said the company has a Rs 14,000-crore capex plan for the current fiscal, a major portion of that has already been spend on mobile line expansion and network.

Vavasi is a New Delhi-based company with diversified interest, including telecom and renewable energy.

Goyal said the revenue of the PSU would take a hit due to a host of low tariff announced by the company following the stiff competition in the segment, but he hoped that volume growth will make up for that.

Asked about reports of any CBI probe in BSNL-Swan Telecom deal, Goyal said he is not aware of any such probe.