Videocon Drops Out Of Vsnl Stake Race

Consumer durables major Videocon has pulled out its bid for the government's stake in Videsh Sanchar Nigam (VSNL). The moves comes just after the Dhoots withdrew their bid for the national carrier Indian Airlines.

Videocon group chairman Venugopal Dhoot said a communication to this effect has been sent to the secretary, department of disinvestment, Pradeep Baijal. "He has accepted it," Dhoot said.

However, he did not cite any reasons for the withdrawal. The group had put in the bid through Videocon Communication.

Japanese technology majors Mitsubishi Corporation and Toshiba together hold 25 per cent stake in Videocon Communication.

"The move to bid for the government's 25 per cent stake was a logical one as it is in line with the company's new focus of Internet service providers and interactive television businesses," Dhoot had said at the time of making the bid.

The bid for Indian Airlines and VSNL represented another diversion for the group after petroleum and power. It has also put its insurance venture on the backburner.

The Rs 4,000 crore Videocon group's bid for VSNL had come as a surprise to industry analysts. It was the last to join the bandwagon of bidders.

Videocon, despite the onslaught from consumer electronics transnationals, remains the second largest player in the sector in India.

Last week, the Bharti-Singapore Telecom combine withdrew its bid for the long distance carrier. Now, the number of bidders for VSNL is down to three --Reliance, the Tatas, and the Sterling -BPL-Tycom-CenturyTel Consortium.