Investment in Unitech Wireless cleared by govt: Telenor

NEW DELHI: Norwegian firm Telenor on Monday said its Rs 6,120 crore investment in Unitech Wireless, which has been charge-sheeted by the CBI in the 2G spectrum scam, was cleared by the Indian government and the joint venture had "genuine licences".

"When Telenor invested Rs 6,120 crore for a 67.25 per cent ownership in Unitech Wireless, it was in a company that already had a genuine licence issued by the Indian government with all necessary approvals. These investments were cleared by the Government of India at each stage," Telenor spokesperson said in a statement.

The CBI has named Unitech Managing Director Sanjay Chandra in its charge-sheet on the 2G spectrum scam, which was submitted in the Special Court on April 2.

According to the charge-sheet, promoters of Unitech Wireless, the company which benefited the most in the 2G spectrum allocation scam, gained Rs 2,342 crore.
The investigating agency said a subscription agreement on October 28, 2008, between various Unitech group of companies, their holding companies and Telenor Asia Pte Ltd and Telenor Mobile Communications AS, Telenor agreed to infuse extra equity into the companies for 66.5 per cent stake.

"Actual investment of promoters in equity was Rs 138 crore, which was valued at Rs 2,480 crore, indicating a gain of Rs 2,342 crore to promoters of Unitech Wireless," the CBI said in its charge-sheet.

"The CBI charge-sheet names Sanjay Chandra as the MD of Unitech and also names Unitech Wireless for actions when it was a fully-owned Unitech company. This was a period prior to Telenor Group entering India... Telenor Group fully supports these proceedings," the spokesperson said.

Saying that Telenor has zero tolerance for corruption, the company said the investment made by it was into the operating company (Unitech Wireless) and not to its promoters.

"This is the equity that has been used as working capital to fund the establishment of Uninor as a successful young mobile operator in India with over 21 million subscribers now," the spokesperson added.