Norwegian teleco Telenor's operations in Pakistan and Bangladesh may hamper its India entry as companies operating in these neighbouring countries raise security concerns for the intelligence agencies here.
A Department of Telecom (DoT) official said, "The home ministry is now the approving authority for all telecom sector proposals, and therefore, it is they who will take a call on such proposals."
Telenor has operations in 12 countries, including Bangladesh and Pakistan. As per the procedure, Unitech and Telenor will have to inform about the deal to DoT and they will have to give all the details, including passport numbers of the company directors, both Indian and foreign.
"...And therefore, it is likely to take longer for the home ministry to give green signal to such deals," the official said.
In 2006, Egyptian telecom giant Orascom, which was a key player in Pakistan, had raised security concerns among the intelligence agencies after acquiring an indirect stake in Hutch-Essar.
India has been at the receiving end from both Pakistani and Bangladeshi terrorist outfits. It has has made security agencies step up vigil on any transaction through these countries.