DoT sources said that decks had been cleared for encashment of Reliance Telecom's Rs 50-crore bank guarantee following the verdict of the Delhi high court in favour of the department. The case was earlier transferred from Ahmedabad high court to Delhi high court. DoT has also issued orders for encashment of bank guarantees of Modicom (Rs 75 crore) and Fascel (Rs 163.17 crore).

With this, the total dues from all basic and cellular licence holders amounting to about Rs 750 crore have been assured to the Union government. Nearly Rs 500 crore has already been assured to the Government by way of encashment of bank guarantees of other licence holders.

Even as the Department of Telecom went about ordering encashment of bank guarantees, the day saw hectic activity in the private telecom sector. The Confederation of IndianIndustry, which has been acting as a mediator between the private operators and the Government to resolve the differences between the two sides, on Wednesday decided to write a letter to communications minister Jagmohan.

CII would seek a level-playing field and one policy for all players from the Government in its letter. It will ask the Government to ensure fair competition and strengthening of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

Speaking to The Financial Express, CII's national telecom committee chairman Vijay Kapur said in the absence of a strong regulator foreign investors will be discouraged to put their money in the country.

The message emanating from the Government on the issue is that it will look into the grievances of the existing players in light of the new telecom policy, he said. The new policy is due to be announced on March 31. The Indian partners in the private telecom ventures believe that the Government's failure to address the grievances of the service providersand a weak regulator could have a disastrous impact on the privatisation of the telecom sector in the country. Foreign partners are likely to threaten a pull out or freeze on their investments in the country if the policy does not address important issues such as the replacement of the licence fee with revenue sharing.

Swisscom, the partners of Essar group in two cellular joint ventures, last week announced a pullout from India due to non-conducive business environment. British Telecom has already put a freeze on its investments in the country citing unfriendly government policy.