In a significant change of strategy, the Rs 30,000-crore Aditya Birla group now appears to be interested in staying on and acquiring management control in Idea Cellular, the three-way joint venture between Birla, the Tata group and AT&T.Industry sources see the Birla group consolidating its position in the company, even as an initial public offer is slated to come to the market in the near future. Both telecom industry sources and sources close to the Birla group said the Birla group was now no longer seeking to exit the company as was once speculated. On the other hand, the group was drawing up plans to emerge as a major telecom industry player through its presence in the GSM space.While there’s no official confirmation available on how the group could enlarge its equity holding in the company from 33 per cent, one option could be to pitch for the 33 per cent AT&T stake. Idea Cellular officials refused to comment about the Birla group increasing its holding in Idea. However, sources said that telecom has become very much part of the Birla growth agenda.What the Tata group will do with its 31.85 per cent in the venture is not clear, but the Tatas have been bullish on code division multiple access technology. Analysts therefore conjecture that if at all the Tata group were willing to focus entirely on CDMA, Birla group may even be keen to pick up that share of the equity.However, the Tata group is clearly not willing to make any statement to that effect. Group insiders said there was no exit plan at this point. The IPO, on the other hand, would be a good means of valuing Idea, since it would then be a listed company. Sources say if the Birla group were to control Idea, they may then opt for a foreign partner. Top telecom industry sources said they eventually see six major players in the industry — Reliance, Bharti, Tata, Birla, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Hutch. While Reliance, Tata and BSNL would be in CDMA, the rest would be in the GSM space. In what is now clearly emerging to be the future landscape of the AV Birla group, cement (Grasim) and non-ferrous metals (Hindalco) will continue to be the driving forces, while telecom would buttress its future growth which will be driven both organically and inorganically. The acquisition of L&T’s cement business now behind it, chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla is likely to train his vision to pastures that would take the group to greater heights.
