The government has given telecom companies, with Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), three more months to comply with the conditions that were imposed when cap on foreign equity was increased to 74%. The new deadline expires on January 2, 2007. The original Press Note 5 that laid out the FDI guidelines for the telecom sector was issued in November last year with four months time for companies to abide by the norms. But having failed to ensure compliance, the government gave two subsequent extensions of three months each. This is the fourth extension, after the October 2 deadline, for three months, an official release said today. The notification issued today is aimed at clearing the confusion over the period of extension of the deadline after the Cabinet meeting last week. With companies failing to meet the earlier deadlines to comply with the conditions for FDI, the Department of Telecom (DoT) had suggested reverting to the earlier foreign investment limit of 49%. |