The Hindu Business Line : Birlas submit DoT letters as proof

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Birlas say DoT had unambiguously and officially recorded Tata Industries, as well as other companies and individuals of the Tata Group, as promoters of Idea.

New Delhi , March 7

The Tata Group today gave the details of its holdings in Idea Cellular and Tata Telservices to the Department of Telecom in a bid to clear its stance on the dispute with the Aditya Birla Group over Idea Cellular.

The Birlas on the other hand, shot off another letter to the DoT highlighting an old Government communication in order to prove that Tata Group was the direct promoter of Idea Cellular, a status which has been repeatedly denied by the Tatas.

The Birlas today submitted the communication of DoT dated August 22, 2005 to buttress their argument that assertions of the Tatas were wrong. The Tata Group had earlier said that they had not violated any licence norms since the promoters of Tata Teleservices and Idea Cellular were not common.

The Birla Group, however, said that DoT had unambiguously and officially recorded Tata Industries, as well as other companies and individuals of the Tata Group, as promoters of Idea. In their letter, the Birlas also annexed a communication of DoT sent to Idea in August last year, wherein the Communication Ministry took on record that Tata Industries, along with seven other individuals of Tata group, had 27.48 per cent equity as promoter, while another entity, Tata Televentures, had 4.21 per cent equity in the cellular company.

The A.V. Birla Group also sent details of the Group's shareholding held through four companies — Grasim, Hindalco, Birla TMT and Aditya Birla Neuvo Ltd in Idea Cellular.

The dispute started in February when the Birla Group asked DoT's intervention in ousting Tata from Idea Cellular on the grounds that the latter was frustrating the cellular company's expansion plans.

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