The department of telecommunications (DoT) has decided to sell the 773-acre surplus VSNL land, held by Tata Communications, by hiving it off into a special purpose vehicle (SPV).
The government will have a majority stake in it. “The decision (of government taking a majority stake in the SPV) needs to go to the Cabinet for approval. Before making any investment, the Cabinet approval is required,” DoT secretary and Telecom Commission chairman R Chandrashekhar said.
The government will soon appoint a consultant for the sale process.
The decision was taken by the Commission, the highest policy making body of the DoT, at a meeting today. Earlier, an internal DoT panel had recommended hiving off the surplus VSNL land into a realty firm.
In 2005, the Cabinet had approved an SPV to execute the transaction on surplus VSNL land, as Tata Communications had acquired the public sector undertaking in 2002.
However, the deal did not include the 773.13 acres of land, which has been lying unused after the acquisition of VSNL.
