NEW DELHI: Indian tycoon Ratan Tata appeared Monday before a parliamentary panel probing a multi-billion dollar telecoms graft scandal that has badly dented the government's credibility and alarmed investors in Asia's third largest economy. The scandal has sparked worries several firms could lose valuable telecoms licences after investing billions of dollars in India, prompting Norway's prime minister to lobby his Indian counterpart on behalf of state-controlled Telenor , one of the affected firms. Tata, 73, declined to make any comment to reporters as he emerged from the three-hour hearing at parliament house. But the head of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which is investigating the grant of cellphone licenses, said Tata was forthcoming in his answers to the panel. “Ratan Tata was very candid. He replied to all questions from members with an open mind. He did not conceal anything,” Murli Manohar Joshi said. The questioning of Tata comes two days after police made the first indictments in the case, naming a former minister, a unit of Reliance ADA group and the Indian partners of Etisalat and Telenor among the accused. Neither Tata, ranked No. 61 in the Forbes list of the world's most powerful people as head of autos-to-software conglomerate Tata Group, nor his telecoms firm Tata Teleservices, have been charged in the case. But an independent lawmaker has said the firm gained from a 2007 policy change in the manner radio spectrum was granted. Tata would answer questions including those related to the allocation of spectrum, his spokesman earlier said. Tata has denied his company received any undue benefits. The graft scandal, potentially India's largest, has tarnished the stature of Prime Minister Manmhohan Singh and fuelled doubts that he will not serve a full term. The scandal has also led to several official decisions being scrutinised or reversed, raising regulatory risk. Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg wrote to Singh seeking fair treatment for Telenor. “Norwegian authorities want to make sure the Indian government does what it can to ensure that Telenor and other foreign investors in India's telecom market receive fair treatment,” Deputy Trade Minister Rikke Lind said in an email to newspaper Aftenposten. The trade ministry confirmed the content of the email to Reuters. Adding close to 19 million phone users a month, India is the world's fastest-growing and the second-largest telecoms market, but fierce competition and rock-bottom call rates have made it rough going for the 15 operators that slug it out.
