Govt assures of corrective steps to ensure telcos' growth

Representatives of Airtel, Idea Cellular, Jio and Reliance Communications met Sinha

The much-awaited meeting between the government and the telecom companies to evolve a resolution to the stressed health of the sector was held here on Thursday afternoon

Representatives of telecom companies Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular, Reliance Jio and Reliance Communications met Communications Minister Manoj Sinha and Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan besides other government officials in the ministry.

Among the industrialists, Anil Ambani of Reliance Communications, Sunil Mittal of Bharti Airtel and Mahendra Nahata of Reliance Jio were present in the meeting. They were not immediately available for comment.

Initially, the company chiefs met Sinha separately. The government has set up an inter-ministerial group (IMG) which is holding hearings with all the stakeholders. The group members have already met the main telecom companies, including MTNL and BSNL.

Sinha said that the government would take corrective steps to ensure growth in the sector, the world's second-biggest by number of users, amid worries about financial stress.

Carriers in India's telecoms sector have been hurt by a price war eating into revenues and profit. High levels of debt in companies have also raised concerns about their ability to repay.

Sinha said in a statement that earlier on Thursday he met with heads of telecoms carriers, representatives of the finance ministry and top lender State Bank of India to discuss the financial stress in the sector.

An inter-ministerial panel that is examining issues affecting viability and repayment capacity in telecoms sector was likely to submit its report soon, Sinha added.

The task of the inter-ministerial group (IMG) is to examine systemic issues affecting viability and repayment capacity of the telecom sector and furnish recommendations for resolution of stressed assets. It is expected to submit its recommendations within three months.

The group, comprising officials from the finance and telecom ministries, was set up after top banks expressed concern about financial stress in the industry.