Govt preparing relief package for telecom sector

The government is preparing a relief package for the telecom sector, but has no plans of responding to Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla’s offer of handing over the group’ stake in Vodafone Idea to any public sector or domestic financial entity, said senior officials.

A government official, who did not wish to be quoted, said it was surprising that Birla’s letter was silent over the shareholding of Vodafone Group, the largest investor in Vodafone Idea. “It appears that the proposal is for a government entity to become a minority shareholder while Vodafone continues to be the majority partner and run the company,” said this official.