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Mittal is 'open' to MTNL stake buy

BS Corporate Bureau

Bharti Tele-Ventures, the country's largest cellular operator, has thrown in its hat for the proposed divestment of government's equity in Mahanagar Telephone Nigam.

This comes close on the heels of the Tatas recently expressing interest in the divestment of MTNL and Bharat Sanchar Nigam.

Sunil Mittal, chairman, said, "Bharti Tele-Ventures is open to acquiring a strategic stake in the state-owned MTNL when the government comes out with its divestment plan".

"It is a better company than Videsh Sanchar Nigam," Mittal said.

MTNL, which is the largest basic telecom operator in Mumbai and Delhi, has also a presence in Internet access and cellular sectors.

Reliance group, the other leading diversified conglomerate was earlier open to the idea of bidding for MTNL.

Anil Ambani, managing director of Reliance Industries, had earlier said the group is open to bidding for MTNL.

The government is likely to divest around 26 per cent out of its total 56.25 per cent in MTNL to a strategic partner. Around 40.87 per cent is held by banks and institutions.

The delay in kicking off the privatisation process has already affected the MTNL share prices on the domestic bourses. The MTNL scrip on Monday closed lower at Rs 167 after opening at Rs 175 on the BSE.

For Bharti, it could be a direct entry into the most lucrative basic telecom circles in India, though it is not keen to add any more basic circles under its fold, say analysts.

At present, Bharti Tele-Ventures has around 135,000 fixed-line subscribers. The company currently offers basic services in Madhya Pradesh and Haryana and plans services in three additional circles of Delhi, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

The company has focused more on cellular, where it has around 1 million users, and national long distance markets, analysts add. The company also intends to offer voice transmission services for fixed-line users shortly.

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