Whats in it for VSNL shareholders?
S. Vaidya Nathan A VERITABLE storm has been kicked up by the decision of Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd now under the control and management of the Tata group to invest Rs 1,200 crore in Tata Teleservices. Much of the focus has been on the fact that a private group is pulling out from a recently privatised PSU a large sum of money. The criticism has been focussed mainly on how this may not be in line with the spirit of the shareholders agreement between the Tatas and VSNL. Per se, there appears to be nothing amiss about the investment plan. And there appears no case for the Government to step in and question this move. This VSNL investment plan may make more sense than the manner in which the Government forced oil PSUs two years back to pick up stakes in each other. In that instance, it could not be argued that the investments represented an optimal use of funds. It was done just to ensure that the Government had receipts to show by way of disinvestments. The VSNL case can neither be constru
