Chennai: Telecom Minister Andimuthu Raja is in no mood to budge. With Ericsson refusing to renegotiate prices for BSNL's mega GSM tender, Raja now wants BSNL to conduct a re-bid.
All the major players in the fray - Nokia, Ericsson, Motorola and ZTE could be asked to put in fresh financial bids.
Raja believes the deal for a little over 45 million GSM lines is too expensive at current rates and so wants the lowest bidder Ericsson and Nokia to cut rates. But with Ericsson saying no, Raja wants BSNL to explore other options.
“As a minister I gave a suggestion to BSNL. These are all the lacunas I found, so it can be rectified and that's all and nothing else. We have to conduct the re-bid I hope,” says Raja.
Raja is under pressure from both Trade Unions and the Left parties. The unions are breathing down his neck as they feel the government has been indifferent to BSNL's expansion plans.
There is also political pressure that he’s facing. CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury shot off a letter to the Prime Minister bringing to his notice the delays this deal has witnessed.
BSNL board is expected to meet in the next few days and a final decision is likely to be taken by the end of this week.
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