The government of India is desperately seeking investment to slake the capital thirst of the telecom sector. In an attempt to find a new well of funding, it has launched an interactive Internet Web site to woo foreign investors and put them in direct contact with government officials. Christened as investindiatelecom, the site was inaugurated on Tuesday by communications minister Ram Vilas Paswan. Investindiatelecom will offer details and constant updates on government policy and also links to other related sites like that of the industry regulator.
Investors can query senior government officials through organized interfaces on the site.
The government has steadily opened up the telecom sector to foreign participation. India, which has a low telephone density of three per 100 people, plans to raise the figure to seven by 2005 and 15 by 2010. Following the first opening of the sector to private involvement in 1991, the Indian telecom system is already among the top 10 in the world for usage, with an annual growth exceeding 20 percent. Tele-density is expected to quintuple in 10 years. That translates into 175 million telephone connections alone, by 2010.