BANGALORE (PTI): Department of Telecommunications (DOT) of India would depend on private sector investment up to Rs 360 BN. to realize the required Rs 520 BN. in meeting an estimated demand of 20 MN new telephone lines by 1997. Economic advisor to the department of electronics Pranab Sen said the DOT has a capacity to raise only Rs 16 BN. Sen, participating in the telematics94 seminar here, said a demand for 20 MN, with 18 MN no rural non PCO connections, would arise during the same period.
When the DOT could raise only Rs 160 BN and had to depend on the private sector for the Rs 360 BN< the private sector could not be seen as a supplement.
On the participation of multinational companies, he said if foreign companies had to be restricted fewer than 50% of the equity, Indian entrepreneurs would have to come up with anything between Rs 60 to Rs 80 BN, which was impossible. In the race for protecting the interests of Indian telecom entrepreneurs, interests of entrepreneurs in other fields would be compromised, he warned. Dr. Sen said the revenue from the telecom sector had to go up to Rs
22,000 per line in three years for meeting the targets at DOT. Non voice telephony was growing in the country at a faster rate than voice telephony, he added.
Article extracted from this publication >> November 4, 1994
