Not stated compensation amount to govt, clarifies Telenor

Norway’s Telenor has not stated any compensation amount in its letter to the government on a possible arbitration after its licences were ordered cancelled by the country’s top court, a company spokesman said on Tuesday.

“However, we will seek compensation for all investment, guarantees and damages,” Glenn Mandelid said in an email to Reuters.

A newspaper earlier reported the Norwegian company was seeking nearly $14 billion in damages.

Telenor is seeking a solution from the government within six months or it will go for international arbitration for failure to protect its investment in the country, the newspaper said earlier, citing the notice sent to the prime minister’s office.

In early February, Supreme Court ordered all 122 mobile licences awarded in a scandal-tainted 2008 sale, including 22 held by Uninor, Telenor’s local joint venture, to be revoked in four months.

A Telenor spokesman confirmed to _Reuter_s it had informed the Indian government of its “intent to invoke” the provisions of the so-called comprehensive economic cooperation agreement (CECA).

“We are hopeful that it remains the government’s intent to protect and encourage bonafide foreign investment in the country,” the spokesman said in an emailed statement, without mentioning the damages it was seeking.

The Times of India cited Telenor as saying in the notice, which was also sent to the telecom department and the corporate affairs ministry, it invested in India based on licences issued by the government and it had complied with the procedures.

“Despite having no role to play either in the policy or in the process through which these licences were awarded, Telenor stands to lose its entire investment made in India,” the newspaper quoted the notice as saying.

Reuters