Maran assures Tata of level field

Ahead of drafting a fresh Cabinet note on foreign direct investment (FDI) in telecom, communications and IT minister Dayanidhi Maran has assured Tata group chairman Ratan Tata of a level playing field for all stakeholders while resolving contentious issues.

In a letter responding to concerns expressed by Tata, whose Tata Teleservices Ltd is the second largest CDMA operator in the country and has a foreigner as its CEO, Maran said, “No one will have to face a policy regime more onerous than one’s competitors.” Maran’s letter is in response to Tata’s communiqué to the minister, urging the DoT to drop the clause in Press Note 5 that allows companies to increase FDI to 74% from 49% but restrains them from hiring foreigners as CEOs, CTOs and CFOs.

Tata’s view is that companies which do not have FDI beyond 49% should not be required to adhere to the clause. The government should consider dropping or suspending the clause since such companies had been operating for a number of years, Tata had written.

Maran said, while his department favoured suspending Note 5, the Cabinet didn’t. But he said, “My department has been trying to evolve a broad consensus among different stakeholders and prescribe a policy regime which would be free from any bias.”