I-T DEPT SEIZES UNITECH SHARES IN TELENOR JV
The income tax
(I-T) department has frozen the shares owned by real estate company
Unitech Ltd in its mobile phone joint venture with Norway's Telenor, the
joint venture said today, citing notices from the tax authorities. The
joint venture, which operates under the Uninor brand name, said in a
statement the stake was owned by three units of Unitech, but did not
elaborate. It said the move would not have any effect on its operations.
Two sources with direct knowledge said the tax office had "attached"
the shares over atax demand on the Unitech units related to adeal with
Telenor, in which the Norwegian company had taken a majority stake in
the telecom venture. One of the sources said Unitech had challenged the
tax demand. Unitech declined to comment, while a spokeswoman for the tax
office was not immediately available for comment. The joint venture is
among the companies that are set to lose their cellular licences in
early June after the Supreme Court last month ordered all 122 licences
awarded in a 2008 sale to be revoked. Telenor, which had bought into the
Indian venture after the licences had been awarded, has accused partner
Unitech of "fraud and misrepresentation" and wants to migrate the
business to a new venture and seek fresh licences in an auction. Unitech
is opposing Telenor's move and both sides have appealed to India's
Company Law Board (CLB), a quasi-judiciary body. Telenor owns 67.25 per
cent of the joint venture, while Unitech owns the remainder. The joint
venture ranks eighth in a market of 15, with 41 million subscribers as
of February. – www.business-standard.com