Delhi HC restrains BSNL from awarding GSM deal

The Delhi High Court today restrained Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) from awarding any contract for its GSM network expansion till the next hearing on November 16.

A bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Vijender Jain and Justice Kailash Gambhir was hearing a petition filed by Motorola, which was disqualified by BSNL on technical parameters from participating in the bidding.

BSNL, last month, had opened bids for the mega expansion of its GSM network to add over 45 million lines over a period of three years at an estimated cost of about Rs 20,000 crore. Ericsson had emerged the lowest bidder followed by Nokia of Finland.

S D Saxena, director (finance) of BSNL, said: "We respect the direction of the High Court. Since the matter is subjudice, we cannot comment further in this regard."

The telecom company is currently in the process of evaluation of the bids of both the players, which is expected to be over very soon.