In an exclusive interview to NDTV Profit, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman of Aditya Birla Group said he fails to understand why Idea' Cellular’s 2G licenses were cancelled by the Supreme Court, maintaining that Idea just happened to get clubbed with other companies who were mentioned in the 2008 press note.
Idea Cellular, which is part of the Aditya Birla Group, earlier this week filed a clarificatory petition with the apex court asking if it was also subject to the mass cancellation of licences.
On February 2, the Supreme Court cancelled 122 licenses that had been issued to eight telecom operators in 2008. Idea lost nine of its 22 licences.
Birla told NDTV Profit that the cancellation of 2G licenses created some amount of uncertainty. “We were in queue since 2006, so we really don't understand why our licenses were canceled. We were left with no other cause of action but to take legal recourse,” he said .
Speaking about the manufacturing sector, which has witnessed slower growth, Birla said “There are several bottlenecks in the manufacturing sector. Getting environmental approval is a tedious process.”
On energy, Birla said allocation of coal is a big concern and that the country should focus on increasing coal production rather than increasing distribution.
“We have one of the largest reserves of coal as a country and I think we need to single-mindedly increase the production manifold rather than thinking of distribution which is like auction. It’s a pity that we have the large reserves and we are not able to tap those,” he said.