Thaindian News

Mumbai, Feb 3 (IANS) Stocks of firms that face cancellation of telecom licences after the Supreme Court order continued to rule in the red Friday, with investors expecting their subscribers to switch to older players not affected by the verdict.

The sharpest fall at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) among the affected companies was seen in the scrip of Idea Cellular, which was quoting at Rs.94.5 with a loss of 1.41 percent over the previous close.

DB Realty, which floated Swan Telecom — also a beneficiary of the tainted licences and whose promoter Shahid Balwa is a co-accused in the case — saw its scrip ruling at Rs.61.55 with a loss of 1.2 percent over the previous close.

The stocks have reacted negatively ever since the Supreme Court ordered cancellation of all 122 licences granted during the tenure of former communications minister A. Raja, who is in jail and faces trial in what has been alleged as India’s biggest scam.

The shares of Videocon, another beneficiary of the licences were down 0.15 percent at Rs.171.70, while that of Unitech was quoting at Rs.25.05 with a loss of 0.2 percent over the previous close.

Unitech had clarified that it was an entity separate from Uninor, which operates the telecom licences, and that it will continue to focus on the real estate business, which was its core area of operation.

Even though Reliance Communications was not among the affected companies, the firm’s scrip was down 3.66 percent at Rs.93.35, while Bharti Airtel was up 2.34 percent at Rs.395, as per data with the bourse.

The 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) of the exchange was also down 27.54 points, or 0.16 percent at 17,400.74 points.

The court, taking note of the arbitrary issue licences were granted, had also slapped a cost of Rs.5 crore each on Unitech, Swan Telecom and Tata Teleservices. Varying costs were imposed on other companies as well.