India to take corrective steps to ensure telecoms growth

NEW DELHI India’s telecoms minister said on Thursday that the government would take corrective steps to ensure growth in the sector, the world’s second-biggest by number of users, amid worries about financial stress.

Carriers in India’s telecoms sector have been hurt by a price war eating into revenues and profit. High levels of debt in companies have also raised concerns about their ability to repay.

Telecoms Minister Manoj Sinha said in a statement that earlier on Thursday he met with heads of telecoms carriers, representatives of the finance ministry and top lender State Bank of India to discuss the financial stress in the sector.

An inter-ministerial panel that is examining issues affecting viability and repayment capacity in telecoms sector was likely to submit its report soon, Sinha added.