Industry sources said the finance ministry played a key role in pushing the financial closure of the project. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, chairman and managing director of BPL Mobile, had complained to Finance Minister Jaswant Singh about banks delaying the closure.
In fact, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) investigated the role of ICICI Bank, the lead bank of the consortium, for the two-year delay.
Banks and financial institutions are believed not to have taken any new exposure in the company. They are converting the unpaid interest of over Rs 300 crore into debt.
The promoters of BPL will now bring in over Rs 300 crore as part of the debt restructuring cleared by the institutions. However, sources close to the development said banks had not limited their exposures to BPL.
The total cost of the project is now being pegged at around Rs 3,400 crore, against the earlier estimate of Rs 2,800 crore.
