Processing .....please wait.. 
The article has been forwarded.... 
Growth boom for FDI in telecom sector
By siliconindia
Bangalore: Telecom is one of the fastest growing industries in India, and everyone, including foreign players and investors, are eager to be a part of this growth. The last few years have witnessed many activities on the foreign direct investment front with world's leading telecom operators picking up large stakes in domestic operators.
The fiscal ended March 31, 2009 has been the high revenue growth period for the telecom sector. The telecom services industry registered a growth of 20.7 percent clocking revenues of 
1, 57,542 crore in 2008-09 compared to 1,30,561 crore in the previous year.
Sajjan Jindal, President of ASSOCHAM said that during the year 2009, government had raised the FDI limit in telecom sector from 49 percent to 74 percent, which has contributed to the robust growth of FDI in the sector.
The telecom sector registered a growth of 103 percent during fiscal 2008-09 as compared to previous fiscal according to the latest 'Annual FDI Report' by ASSOCHAM. Another interesting find of the study is that the greater chunk of foreign investments has flown into states that are doing well industrially and commercially and which have an investor-friendly business environment.
Listed telecom operators like Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communication, Idea Cellular and Tata Communication which have emerged as favourites among foreign institutional investors on Dalal Street.
Airtel's revenues grew from 1500 crore in FY02 to over 37,000 crore in 2009, representing a compounded annual growth rate of 58 percent in last seven years. If the ongoing $23 billion deal between Bharti Airtel and South African Company, MTN is successful, it will mark an entry as the biggest overseas deal to date, surpassing Tata's acquisition of Corus for $12.2 billion.
In a similar move last year, Japanese mobile operator NTT Docomo acquired a 26 percent stake in Tata Teleservices (TTL). Other strides in the sector during the year included policy initiatives pertaining to the allocation of spectrum for the 3G and broadband wireless access (BWA) services and mobile number portability. This has led several players to take advantage and get ahead of their pack.
1, 57,542 crore in 2008-09 compared to 1,30,561 crore in the previous year.
Sajjan Jindal, President of ASSOCHAM said that during the year 2009, government had raised the FDI limit in telecom sector from 49 percent to 74 percent, which has contributed to the robust growth of FDI in the sector.
The telecom sector registered a growth of 103 percent during fiscal 2008-09 as compared to previous fiscal according to the latest 'Annual FDI Report' by ASSOCHAM. Another interesting find of the study is that the greater chunk of foreign investments has flown into states that are doing well industrially and commercially and which have an investor-friendly business environment.
Listed telecom operators like Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communication, Idea Cellular and Tata Communication which have emerged as favourites among foreign institutional investors on Dalal Street.
Airtel's revenues grew from 1500 crore in FY02 to over 37,000 crore in 2009, representing a compounded annual growth rate of 58 percent in last seven years. If the ongoing $23 billion deal between Bharti Airtel and South African Company, MTN is successful, it will mark an entry as the biggest overseas deal to date, surpassing Tata's acquisition of Corus for $12.2 billion.
In a similar move last year, Japanese mobile operator NTT Docomo acquired a 26 percent stake in Tata Teleservices (TTL). Other strides in the sector during the year included policy initiatives pertaining to the allocation of spectrum for the 3G and broadband wireless access (BWA) services and mobile number portability. This has led several players to take advantage and get ahead of their pack.