Yet another scam has surfaced. Yet again the D.M.K is involved - a party that conceived, created and has consistently nurtured corruption in Tamil Nadu over the years it (mis)ruled it. This one involves the Communication and Information Technology Minister, A. Raja.
On Jan 10th the telecom ministry awarded 2G spectrum licenses for Rs.9,000 crores. It has been alleged that this amounted to severe under pricing, causing a loss of almost of Rs.51,000 crores to the exchequer. Now, why is there suspicion that it has been undersold? Two companies - Swan and Unitech – that were awarded licenses had invested Rs.1,537 crores and Rs.1,651 crores respectively on acquiring the spectrum. These two companies have recently received enterprise valuations of Rs.9,400 crores and Rs.11,620 crores.
Is it a big deal?
Bloody big deal alright. These two companies have received these valuations even though they have no telecom infrastructure or cash flows or, hold your breath, customers. Yes, no business, no set up, no customers, yet these two companies have got valuations ten times the amount they paid the Government. Not to put too fine a point on it, the Government had undersold and gets to lose enough money that could have wiped out a significant portion of the budget deficit. That could have saved you and me a few rupees of excess tax next year.
If this isn’t a scam, then Mother Teresa was a rock star!
Never mind Raja is denying all this and has even offered to resign. You don’t expect anything less from him anyway. But the interesting thing is what his party boss - the Thief minister of Tamil Nadu, Karunanidhi – had to say in defense. “Raja has already explained that all the actions in his ministry have the approval of the Prime Minster.”
So, what is he trying to tell us? That if there is a scam here, then the P.M knows about it. Or even worse, blame the P.M for it instead.
And Karunanidhi being Karunanidhi, he lets out another gem, again in defense of his party minister. “Even the CPI (M)’s trade union in the BSNL had supported the Minster”. From when did the CPI (M)’s trade union become a sitting judge to pass verdicts? Some logic.
But the icing on the cake was what Karunanidhi said next. “Raja belongs to the Scheduled Caste, had studied and progressed in life surmounting many huge obstacles and now is a Union Minster.”
So what is he inferring? That we should not question the deeds of someone if he happens to belong to the scheduled caste? Or that when a scheduled caste person is made a Union Minister we should be gracious enough to forgive and forget these petty things?
Even if it involves a tiny sum of Rs.51,000 crores?
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2 comments:
sir this blog is actually dealing intresting affairs in a delicious way.please update oftenly.
I have some acquaintances who work for some of the biggest private players in the telecom scene.
It is through them that I came to know about this. Unitech which till yesterday was an infrastructure company has suddenly dipped its fingers into the very lucrative telecom pie.
There are some serious concerns among the knowledgeable about the ways and means through which the new kids on the block are having their bite of the telecom spectrum.
Interesting and entertaining post about the Tamilnadu scam.
Guess, I will be visiting more often.
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