V Umashankar appointed govt director on MTNL Board

NEW DELHI: Government has appointed Telecom Joint Secretary V Umashankar as its representative on the board of state-run telecom firm MTNL.

"V Umashankar, Joint Secretary, (Telecom) DoT has been appointed as Government Director w.e.f. March 15, 2013 in place of Shri Malay Shrivastava," MTNL informed BSE in a filing today.

Umashankar, Haryana cadre IAS of 1993 batch, was appointed joint Secretary at Department of Telecom on March 5 in place of Shrivastava.

MTNL's Technical Director Kuldeep Singh has resigned from the board following his appointment as member TDSAT, it said.

In a separate filing, the state-owned firm said it has floated non-convertible Debentures, in the form of Bonds under Sovereign Guarantee, on private placement basis, which has been subscribed to the extent of Rs 1,005 crore as on March 28, 2013.

Government has permitted MTNL to raise up to Rs 3,000 crore through these sovereign guarantee bonds.

MTNL scrip closed at Rs 21.05, up 7.95 per cent, on the BSE today.