After two weeks of arguments and counter arguments between the government and Tata-VSNL, the imbroglio over the Rs 1,200 crore investment decision by VSNL appears to have been solved. Communications Minister Pramod Mahajan could have got away with making Tatas and VSNL agree to his condition of having a government nominee on the sub committee of the VSNL board which would decide on the quantum and price at which investment would be made in Tata Teleservices.After prolonged discussions over the weekend between the Tatas and the VSNL top brass on one side and Pramod Mahajan and Department of Telecommunications on the other, the two sides are understood to have decided to include government nominee Yashwant Bhave in the board sub committee on inter-corporate investment, whose scope would be enlarged.Mahajan, who was in Hederabad today, said that the dispute, emanating from VSNL’s board decision of May 28 to invest in Tata Tele had been resolved and the two sides would come out with a joint statement. VSNL MD S K Gupta today wrote to D P S Seth, member (services), of the DoT, that a resolution, incorporating government’s suggestions, would be circulated soon.Gupta’s letter was in response to Seth’s letter earlier in the day giving a charter of demands from the government. The government demanded that the sub committee with government nominee would ‘‘study and decide the quantum and the valuation/price at which investment would be made by VSNL in Tata Tele at various points of time.’’The letter also stated that this committee should be allowed to decide the ‘‘trenches and periodicity of investment in Tata Tele.’’ The letter has also stated that the scope and extent of the committee should now include identification and quantification of any additional investment opportunities which were more attractive and to submit the same to the board for its consideration. The sub committee has been asked to complete the deliberations by August 15. Peace between the two sides was brokered by Tarun Das, Director General of CII who wrote a letter to Mahajan on June 1, urging him to resolve the matter through a dialogue and had offered himself as a mediator. According to ministry sources, the ministry would not be satisfied with a valuation of Tata Tele from IDBI as was presented at the board meeting. They infact would prefer and independent maybe international company to do the valuations.
