By IANS,
New Delhi : Communications Minister Kapil Sibal Monday said a cabinet note on selling surplus land that was earlier with the state-run enterprise VSNL has been prepared and will be sent to the cabinet for approval in a few days.
“Cabinet note on VSNL land hive-off has been prepared and the matter will be sent to the cabinet soon,” said Sibal on the sidelines of the curtain raiser ceremony of Indian Telecom 2011: mPowering India.
In 2005, the cabinet had approved a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to execute the transaction related to surplus land held by VSNL.
Tata Communications had acquired the government’s stake in VSNL in 2002. However, the deal did not include 770 acres of the public sector company’s land asset, spread over five locations in Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Pune which has been lying unused post- acquisition of the company.
The sale of the land is estimated to fetch revenues to the tune of about Rs.6,150 crore.
The telecom commission had also recommended that the government should take a majority share in the SPV.
Sibal also said that new telecom players, who had got licences to provide mobile phone services in 2008, would get to exit the business in the new Telecom Policy which is expected by October.