Norway's Telenor ASA has not stated any compensation amount in its letter to the Indian government on a possible arbitration after its licences were ordered cancelled by the country's top court, a company spokesman said on Tuesday.
"However, we will seek compensation for all investment, guarantees and damages," Glenn Mandelid said in an email to Reuters.
A daily newspaper earlier reported this morning that the Norwegian company was seeking nearly $14 billion (Rs 70,000 crore) in damages from the Indian government.
The report said that Telenor is seeking a solution from the government within six months or go for international arbitration for failure to protect its investment in the country, the newspaper said, citing the notice sent to the Prime Minister's Office.
In early February, Supreme Court ordered all 122 mobile licences awarded in a scandal-tainted 2008 sale, including 22 held by Uninor, Telenor's local joint venture, to be revoked in four months.
Telenor said it informed the Indian government of its "intent to invoke" the provisions of the so-called Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) between India and Singapore. The Norwegian company owns the stake in the Indian joint venture through its unit registered in Singapore.
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Telenor, which bought into its Indian venture after the licences had been awarded, has said it has been "unfairly harmed" by the court order.
It has filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking a review of the order, while the Norwegian government is also lobbying for the state-backed company.
Telenor's notice comes after Russian conglomerate Sistema last month asked India to settle within six month a fight over the court order to revoke 21 licences held by its local unit, citing a bilateral pact between India and Russia.
Indian government spokesmen were not immediately available for comment.The joint venture, which operates under the Uninor brand name, has been the most aggressive of the newer telecom companies in the fiercely-competitive Indian market. Uninor ranks eighth in the market of 15, with 41 million customers as of February.
Telenor has also been embroiled in a dispute with its Indian partner, Unitech. Telenor has accused Unitech of "fraud and misrepresentation" after the licence cancellation order and has said it would seek to migrate the business to a fresh venture with a new partner.