No role for FIPB, Mittal
March 6, Bharti group chairman and managing director Sunil Bharti Mittal said that there was no government security on its decision to buy back 5.6 percent stake from Vodafone. Bharti Mittal said that the transaction was within the foreign investment norms in the telecom sector.
Bharti Mittal said that the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) came into play when he was buying back his own stake. He said that its role came only if a foreign company was nvolved. Vodafone had approached the FIPB for approval to acquire controlling stake in Hutch-Essar from Hong Kong based Hutchison Telecom(HTIL) as well as for its investment plans for telecom business.
Bharti Mittal said that the company had already given Vodafone to acquire controlling stake in the rival company Hutch-Essar. He said that there was nothing, no scrutiny on their buying back or anything.
At the same time, a PTI report said that Egyptian telecom firm Orascom’s CEO Naguib Sawiris has resigned from the board of Hutchison Telecom, days before its shareholders are scheduled to consider the sale of its stake in Hutch-Essar to Vodafone.
