Report on Reliance Info row on Feb 10

Union minister for communication and information technology Dayanidhi Maran has stated that the government will present its recommendations to the Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) on the Reliance Infocomm dispute on February 10.

Reliance faces a penalty of Rs 150 crore and stands to lose its licence. The Department of Telecommunication (DoT) had accused Reliance of routing international calls illegally as local ones to avoid payment of levies to public sector telecom units.

Its allegations include misrepresentation of facts by Reliance. Reliance, in its earlier reply to the DoT, had indicated that there was no explanation needed for the department's decision, and had stated that there was no violation of the uniform access code.

Maran said the government's view is obviously different from that of Reliance and would not soften its stand. He refrained from commenting further on the issue.

On the merger of Bharat Sanchar Nigam with Mahanagar Telephone Nigam, he said both the parties as well as bankers will be submitting their recommendations by March this year, after which a decision will be taken.

He indicated that the Budget would be interesting for the information technology sector as this segment enters the zero-duty regime from April 1.

He said the government would have to ensure that the local manufacturers would not be at a disadvantage.

The government has set a National Internet Exchange which will cater to the '.in' domain. The government is now in the process of building four nodes for this.

A working committee has also been set up to review the IT Act, which will review the IteS/BPO sectors and will try to include them in the act.

Maran, who was speaking at the inaugural session of the NASSCOM 2005, applauded the shape the Indian ICT industry has taken in the past 20 years.

The fact that the industry has caught up with global players and the global players eyeing India is a clear indication of the way things have grown.

However, he stressed that it is innovation, which needs to be nurtured in this industry.

TCS, Wipro and Infosys Technologies have already crossed the $1-billion turnover mark and the emphasis on innovation would propel the emerging companies to get there, he said.

Agreeing with Jerry Rao, Nasscom chairman and chairman of MphasiS, Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said while the industry was taking a positive shape, there is a lot of work that needs to be done.

On the infrastructure front, he said the government has taken note on the need to improve the airport in Mumbai.