Confusion prevailed over review of FDI guidelines in telecom with Communication and IT Minister Dayanidhi Maran claiming that he was unaware of any such move.

Skirting a question that sought to know which clause of the FDI guidelines was being reviewed, Maran said "Is there a review.... I am not aware of it." Maran's comments assume significance since Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath had stated that the government was looking into the matter.

According to Kamal Nath, government is reviewing present guidelines for FDI in telecom following a demand by the industry to hire expatriates to fill top positions. "We are looking at it...," Nath had said.

The appointment of expatriates came to the fore when some Indian telecom companies like Tata Telecom with absolutely no FDI appointed foreign citizens as Chief Executive Officers.

The review was necessitated since present FDI guidelines state that companies cannot have expats as their Chief Executive, Chief Technology and Chief Financial Officers. The policy also does not mention categorically, whether or not the rules applied to entities which had appointed expats before the 74 per cent foreign direct investment was allowed. PTI

(www.ptinews.com)