STel to launch GSM service in india
STel, a joint venture between Bahrain Telecom and the Siva group, plans to start rolling out GSM services in India during the fourth quarter of the current financial year.
The company has licences for the Himachal Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Assam circles. The company is raising funds worth Rs 2,000 crore. In a statement, the company said its promoters had already brought in an equity capital of Rs 1,253 crore.
The remaining amount will come from eight public sector banks, led by IDBI.
The other lenders in the consortium are the State Bank of India, Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank, Central Bank of India, the Union Bank of India, Allahabad Bank and Bank of Baroda.
The funds will be used over two to three years.
“With the successful financial closure, we are set to launch our services in six circles over the current year and early next year,” STel CEO Shamik Das said in a statement.
The company is also pursuing opportunities in the 16 other circles but did not divulge any information as the matter was sub-judice, the statement said.
