Why Anil Ambani met CBI officials in Delhi

The billionaire chairman of Reliance Communications Limited, Anil Ambani, on Wednesday presented himself at the Central Bureau of Investigations office in the capital.

His visit comes in the backdrop of the central body's investigations into the fraudulent awarding of mobile-phone licenses in 2008.

Ambani visited the CGO complex office of the CBI at 3.30 pm.

He arrived in his Honda Accord car and was inside the office till 7 pm, when he was escorted away in an official CBI Ambassador car.

Ambani declined to offer any comments on his visit.

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CBI sources said that Ambani arrived on his own and that no summons were issued to him.

A statement from his group spokesperson said that he had met investigating officials as part of his "weekly visit to Delhi."

"He met the officials today to clarify ongoing issues relating to telecom matters for the years (between) 2001 and 2010," the statement read.

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Anil Ambani's Reliance Communication is currently under investigations for its suspected association with Swan Telecom, now known as Etisalat DB Telecom India Limited.

The company's promoter, Shahid Balwa, is in CBI's custody at the moment for his role in the scam.

On Sunday, Reliance Communications had said in a statement that it held just 9.9 per cent equity share capital with Swan Telecom at the time of applying for the 2G telecom license.

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Saying that the company had not violated any norms, Reliance said in the statement that it was "in full compliance with all the applicable DoT (Department of Telecommunications) guidelines, rules and regulations."

Blaming the company's competitors and rivals for tarnishing its image, it said that no group employee benefitted from the award.

Ever since the CBI arrested former telecommunications minister, A Raja, several top officials of mobile-phone companies have been visiting the investigating body's office.

On Tuesday, Unitech's managing director, Sanjay Chandra had met the CBI, after it was suspected that the company's joint telecom venture with Norway's Telenor received favors when mobile phone licenses were issued in 2008.

Loop Telecom CEO, Sandip Basu and S-Tel CFO Arun Mandhana had also visited the CBI office on Tuesday for questioning into the favours they may have received while their firms were awarded telecom licenses.