2G case: Industry chambers hail SC order

Cancellation of telecom licences by the Supreme Court will help create conducive environment for foreign investors and facilitate growth of the sector which was hit by uncertainty, industry groups said today.

At the same time, they have extended support to the government and telecom regulator Trai in working out a mechanism which ensures that telecom subscribers are not inconvenienced by the development.

"With this crucial judgement, the sector will be restarting the process of receiving clarity in terms of policies and next steps...The uncertainty currently prevailing in the sector will be eliminated," industry chamber Ficci said in a statement.

"In the new environment, India is expected to invite and attract large scale domestic and foreign investment afresh. This may take some time but is an improvement over an environment that mirrors uncertainty," it said.

CII also said that the judgement will remove the uncertainty that was affecting the telecom sector over the last year and more.

"This [decision] should now facilitate the acceleration of growth of this sector and we look forward to conducive government policies and actions to encourage the required investments in telecom infrastructure and services," CII said in a statement.

It said the judgement would affect less than five per cent of 900 million mobile subscribers in India.

Assocham said the verdict will be in the interest of serious and long-term investors – both domestic and foreign.

It is clear that the Supreme Court judgement underlined the need for a pro-reform, competitive and market-based process for allocation of scarce national resources such as spectrum, Ficci said.