BSNL puts Zain plans on hold, says chairman

New Delhi, Dec. 2: The state-run telecom major BSNL has put on hold its proposed plan to acquire a stake in the Kuwaiti telecom major Zain, said the company’s chairman and mnaging director, Mr Kuldeep Goyal, on Wednesday.

BSNL and MTNL had been approached by Vavasi, a New Delhi-based diversified firm with interests in telecom to energy, to partner it along with the Malaysian billionaire, Mr Syed Mokhtar al-Bukhary, for acquiring 46 per cent stake in Zain Telecom.

“The plan is on hold. We had sought some information from Vavasi about the company itself, which we have not yet received. We have not made any further progress on that. It could be implied that there is no further progress on the acquisition of Zain Telecom and it is on hold,” he said.

Asked if BSNL is looking to approach Zain directly, he said, “No further progress as far as this proposal on Zain is concerned.”

The MTNL chairman and managing director, Mr R.S.P. Sinha, also said that his company is not in the fray for Zain.

‘“We are not in the fray. We do not have that much cash to make an acquisition of that size. The last quarter result of Zain shows that its profits are going down drastically. There
are certain issues,” Mr Sinha told a television channel.