Moily to relook into Essar-Loop shareholding pattern

Minister for ensuring that Ministry does not "cover up anything"

PTI | July 20, 2011



Newly-appointed Corporate Affairs Minister Veerappa Moily on Tuesday said he wants to take a relook at the issue of Essar shareholding in Loop Telecom to ensure that his Ministry does not "cover up anything".

"I want to very much relook at the Essar-Loop case...I don't want the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to cover up anything.... There are certain controversies which have arisen in this case," Moily said in an interview to NDTV.

The MCA has so far given two reports -- in 2009 and 2011 -- on cross holding of shares of Essar in Loop Telecom.

In both, the MCA has said that Essar's stake in Loop is less than 10 per cent even as the figure varied in two communications.

In a report of 2009, the MCA had said that Essar has 9.9 per cent stake, while in its recent communication it said Essar's stake was just 2.15 per cent. According to licence norms, cross-holding of less than 10 per cent is permisible.

The CBI in its status report filed in the Supreme Court had questioned MCA's two different versions. The CBI is investigating whether Essar used Loop as a front company to corner spectrum in violation of the guidelines.

"We will work in accordance with the rules of the game and which is prescribed in the Companies Law Act, and any other regulation which we have formed, and definitely this is the matter which I will like to look into it. I would like to see the hard facts and find out whether anything has gone wrong and anything has to be set right," Moily said.

Loop got spectrum licence during the tenure of former Telecom Minister A Raja, who is in jail facing charges of large scale irregularities in allocating licence and 2G spectrum.
 

Comments

 

Other News

Who checks the books?

I read about the news about the Coimbatore library over coffee this morning. On the face of it, the headline was about a political ‘war’ between the DMK and TVK. But what stayed with me was something much more important than the blame game behind what had transpired. A writer walking through

Development paradox: Falling poverty miracle and an inequality problem

India’s reduction in poverty over the past decade is a development achievement of considerable significance. The World Bank’s April 2026 ‘India Development Update’ estimates that the share of Indians living below the international extreme-poverty line of $3.00 per person per day i

In Arunachal, a river we call mother

In Arunachal Pradesh, the Siang is not just a river. For many of us, especially the Adi people, it is part of our family. Our grandparents fished in it. Children learned to swim in it. Our farms drink from it. When someone says a huge dam will be built on it, we do not hear the word "project".

A new retelling of the Mahabharata delves into key moments

In a time when every decision carries consequences and questions of ambition, power, loyalty, identity and moral choice continue to shape our lives, Dr. Arun Krishnan’s new book, ‘Mahakshana’ (Penguin India) offers a strikingly relevant retelling of the Mahabharata.  

Cabinet approves viability gap funding to develop grid-scale energy storage systems

The Union Cabinet, chaired by PM Narendra Modi, has approved the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) Scheme for Development of Grid-Scale Energy Storage Systems, with a total financial support of Rs.14,500 crore for the period FY 2026-27 to FY 2030-31. The scheme aims to support the development o

Cabinet creates a pathway to absorb Agniveers in Defence Forces

An objective assessment in terms of organisational requirements and operational efficiency has brought out the outstanding performance of Agniveers in terms of skills, motivation levels, physical fitness and technological prowess. As envisaged earlier, based on merit, 25% of Agniveers will be offered reg

Upcoming Conferences



-->

Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter