VSNL to invest Rs 12 bn in Tata Tele

MUMBAI: Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (VSNL), India's leading overseas phone

services provider, said on Tuesday its board had decided to invest up to Rs 12

billion ($245 million) in the share capital of fixed phone services firm Tata

Teleservices Ltd.

The unlisted Tata Teleservices is a unit of the Tata group, India's

second-largest business conglomerate by sales. The Tata group recently bought a

controlling 25 per cent stake in VSNL from the government and is acquiring a

further 20 per cent from public shareholders.

No other details of the investment in Tata Teleservices were immediately

available.

VSNL's shares closed down 0.13 per cent at Rs 187.85 on the Bombay Stock

Exchange, whose benchmark index ended down 2.98 per cent.