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Shinawatra may not pull out of Fascel venture

However, Himachal Futuristic Company Limited is close to selling off its 10 per cent stake to the Hindujas, which will take the latter's stake in the venture to 40 per cent, past Shinawatra's.

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In another development, the Fascel board has approved an additional Rs 1.55 billion equity infusion into the venture that would take up the equity base to Rs 5.05 billion.

Industry sources said Shinawatra, which owns a 33 per cent stake in the Rs 3.5-billion equity base (prior to expansion), is now rethinking its exit from the venture.

The company has said that the new telecom policy has given it reason to cheer and it would bring in its portion of fresh equity once the attorney general comes out with his recommendations of the shift to the revenue sharing regime.

Shinawatra has also nominated its official as the new chief executive officer of the venture. The new CEO will take charge shortly.

"They have told us that they are bullish once again following the new telecom policy. They would, just to be on the safe side, wait for the final details of the shift to revenue sharing to be worked out before they bring in the fresh funds," said a source close to the venture.

Shinawatra had earlier made it clear that it was exiting from the venture and was looking out for buyers for its stake. With the telecom industry in the doldrums, the Thai telecom giant did not get a good price for its holding.

With financial institutions too suspending all assistance to the project, it is not possible for the Hinduja group to buy out the stake as they too are in a wait-and-watch mode.

With Shinawatra and Bezeq (the Israeli telecom firm with 16 per cent stake) deciding not to bring in any fresh equity it was decided that the Hindujas would take up their stake in the venture by bringing in the foreign partner's portion of equity.

"Things are much clearer now. It appears that Shinawatra would stay on in the venture. The same cannot be said about Bezeq as they are still uncertain about their commitment to the venture. We would be buying out the HFCL stake of 10 per cent in the very near future and Kotak would continue to remain a strategic investor," said a source close to the Hinduja group.

"The group is committed to the venture and with the new telecom policy in place we are keen to get on with the business and over a period of time expand our presence in the Indian telecom market," said the source.

- Compiled from the Indian media

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