HFCL, which at present holds 10 per cent in Fascel, has already reduced its equity holding from the original 33 per cent earlier this year. This was picked up by two of the promoters, Thai multinational Shinawatra and Indus Ind Telecom, the telecom wing of the Hinduja group. At present, Shinawatra holds 33 per cent, Indus Ind 30 per cent, Israeli company Bezeq 16 per cent, KMFL 10 per cent and HFCL 10 per cent.

Sources at Fascel refused to comment on the sale of equity by HFCL on the grounds that it was a matter best answered by HFCL itself. "HFCL does not keep us informed about its moves. Moreover, there have been occasions earlier when the company has informed us about its desire to sell off equity and has not done so and in due course, they have distributed the equity internally," said a spokesperson for Fascel.

The spokesperson also maintained that HFCL was not obliged to keep the Fascel management informed about its plans for equity sale as it was only a minority equity holder now. "While earlier we had an HFCL representative on our board, the nominee was removed following its reduction to a minority holder," the spokesperson said.

It is believed that HFCL may well be contemplating distribution of equity within its other sister concerns. On the other hand, given the fact that it has dispensed with a sizable chunk of its equity holding in Fascel, HFCL may be contemplating an exit from cellular services altogether.

Interestingly, HFCL was one of the major bidders for both basic and cellular licences during the tenure of the (then) minister for telecommunications, Sukh Ram and was among the companies which shot into prominence during that time.

However, of late, the company has been maintaining a relatively low profile and apart from its 10 per cent holding in Fascel, the only other area in telecommunications where it has a visible presence is paging services through its operator Microwave Communications.

Fascel promoters have already pumped in around Rs 350 crore as equity for the Gujarat cellular project and this is likely to be increased by another Rs 200 crore in the near future. The company is doing moderate business compared to competitor Birla-AT&T in Gujarat and claims to have a subscriber base of around 60,000.