Do you feel the recent CBI raid on the Department of Telecommunications to probe the alleged arbitrary allocation of 2G spectrum would affect the sector in any way?
I don’t think a private company should comment on it.
What about the government-ordered audit into the books of telecom companies?
That’s one of the processes of the government. It’s the prerogative of the government to have these special audits.
Now that the Indian economy is coming out of the blues, does Bharti have any new plans for sectors other than telecom?
First of all, it’s wrong to say that the economy is coming out of the blues —- it never was in the blues. Our plans for the remaining sectors where we are engaged in like insurance, retail, passive infrastructure companies, absolutely remain intact. I believe that all these sectors will have their place under the Sun in the times to come.
In insurance, are you planning anything new?
We are present in both general and life insurance and they are picking up well. These businesses are very much linked to the economy. For instance, in India, life insurance is a preferred route for savings. The behaviour of the stock market and the debt market has an impact on the life insurance business. With that picking up, we are seeing people returning….. Also, because there’s no system of state protection, I think as people become more affluent and affluence spreads through every part of the country, the need for life insurance will only gallop. On the general insurance side, for a country that’s growing at 8% or 9%, you can imagine the kind of capital formation and asset formation that is required. And every asset that is formed needs general insurance. I think there’s massive scope for general insurance going forward. We are pursuing the insurance business with our partner AXA.
Since you are present in the retail sector and also have a joint venture with Wal-Mart for the wholesale format, do you see FDI being allowed in front-end multi-brand retail sector in the near future?
There is need for organised retail in India and I think that will happen. There is a lot of debate on foreign ownership. We believe foreign ownership in these sectors is not bad and there’s nothing wrong in that. This is not a security subject, and I don’t see why foreign ownership in the retail sector is such a big concern for the government.
Not much is being heard and seen on passive infrastructure sharing or the tower sharing business in the telecom business. Why is that?
Passive infrastructure by its very nature is an engineering kind of a company. Engineering set-ups are publicity-shy. But there’s lots happening. The sharing ratios are increasing quarter after quarter, month after month. All operators are now more or less decided to take passive infrastructure from the tower companies, rather than waste own resources.
What’s your view on consolidation in the telcom sector?
We are not looking at any specific targets right now. But we want consolidation and M&A to be freely allowed in the country.
Away from your businesses, what’s your view on the austerity drive for corporate CEOs, something that has been suggested by the government?
The austerity philosophy must be accepted in every walk of life and not only in CEO salaries. While opting for austerity, quality must be preserved and there has to be value for money. It’s important to keep in mind the input-output ratio. That is right austerity.
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