Industry friendly, Mahajan pushed IT, telecom reforms

Pramod Mahajan, who passed away today, will be missed by India Inc. For all practical purposes, he was considered as the BJP’s interface with industry.

Pramod Mahajan, who passed away today, will be missed by India Inc. For all practical purposes, he was considered as the BJP’s interface with industry. Even before the BJP-led NDA government came to power in 1999-2000 and he became a minister, Mahajan was a frequent visitor to business meets, hobnobbing with corporate honchos.

‘‘Not only was Mahajan based in Mumbai, he was articulate and suave, and got along well with Mumbai industrialists,’’ said a senior industrialist who interacted with Mahajan. He was seen as close to all the top business groups. ‘‘He was a frequent visitor to Mittal Court headquarters of Reliance even before Dhirubhai Ambani hit the big time,’’ adds a corporate watcher.

When the BJP government took over, it was clear that Mahajan would get an industry-related portfolio. Nobody was surprised when he became the Minister for Information Technology and telecommunications in the Vajpayee government. Mahajan initiated the process to enact the IT Act and kicked off government-private sector initiative in the sector.

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‘‘Mahajan was a decisive, forward-looking liberalizer who had a quick grasp of economic issues,’’ said R Seshasayee, President, CII.

As the telecom minister, Mahajan took the important decision to free up more spectrum for the private sector wireless telecom players, leading to more competition and lower tariffs. ‘‘He was one of the most techno-savvy ministers in Vajpayee government,’’ recalls Sanjay Nirupam, former Shiv Sena member of Rajya Sabha. ‘‘The moment he came to know about new technology in the telecom industry, he took steps to learn about it.’’

He was not a stranger to controversies. Mahajan allowed Reliance to offer nationwide wireless phone services, then banned under the old licensing conditions. This decision was opposed tooth and nail by GSM mobile players. However, Mahajan denied on several occasions that he had favoured the

Reliance group.

Later, during the battle between the Ambani brothers, it was learnt that Reliance Infocomm had offered one crore free shares to Ashish Deora, a close business associate of Mahajan’s son Rahul Mahajan. After the scandal broke, Deora had to return the shares—worth over Rs 340 crore today—to Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance group.

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As the telecom minister, Pramod Mahajan had objected to the Tata group investing Rs 1,200 crore belonging to Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (after it was sold to the Tatas). In another controversial decision, he allowed MTNL to invest Rs 250 crore in Maharashtra’s MKVDC, which was below investment grade then.

It was again due to Mahajan’s insistance that the BJP government came out with a National Telecom Policy which allowed the telecom companies to migrate to revenue sharing fees from the earlier bid-and-win licensing policies. This, many agree, sparked off India’s telecom revolution.

The summons come amid a broader crackdown by the ED on betting apps functioning illegally in India.

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