| Asim Ghosh, representing Hutchison-Essar; Matthew Kirk group director, representing Vodafone; and representatives from Hutch Telecom made separate presentations to the board which lasted for over two hours. |
| The FIPB has asked for more documents which include copy and details of the loan agreement between Asim Ghosh and Analjit Singh with Hutchison Telecom as well as the nature of the guarantees which was given by a Hong Kong bank at the instance of Hutchison to an Indian entity which lent the money to them for buying 12.26% equity stake in Hutch-Essar. |
| It is also awaiting the report from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) which has been investigating whether the application violated the FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act) norms. "The RBI and the law ministry's final view of the matter has yet to come. There is no income tax angle to the whole issue" DIPP (Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion) secretary Ajay Dua told reporters. |
| Finance secretary Ashok Jha added: "We have sought more details from the two companies." Hutch-Essar and Hutch Telecom will provide the information in three to four days. |
| Sources say some of the parties made a plea to the government that the application be cleared conditionally and any recommendation suggested by the RBI or any other department be abided by the parties. |
| However, this suggestion was not agreed upon by the government. |
| Sources say the parties also made it clear that Ghosh and Singh had not violated any FEMA guidelines. |
| They say that while the agreement to bring Ghosh and Singh as shareholders was signed in March 2006, changes in the FEMA guidelines on external commercial borrowing (ECB) were changed in July 2006 and according to their interpretation it does not violate even these new norms. |
| This is the second time that the applications has been deferred. |
Top Section
Explore Business Standard