Telstra's 49 per cent stake has been picked up by ModiCorp and its associate Spice Telecom. The Modis' decision to part ways with Telstra was announced in January this year, with the American International Group, Distacom and ModiCorp planning to take over Telstra's stake.

Though company officials refused to comment on the issue, industry sources valued Telstra's 49 per cent stake at between Rs 70 and 75 crore.

Telstra's nominee Barry Cooney, who was the chief executive officer in the joint venture, is on leave and is expected to return to his parent firm by the end of this month.

The breakup was formalised by signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that outlined the proposed acquisition. The proposed acquisition will allow Telstra to concentrate on providing global services to corporate customers throughout Asia.

ModiCorp looks after Modi's interest in the joint venture through ModiSoft - another joint venture between ModiCorp, AIG Infrastructure and the Hong Kong-based BK Modi group company Distacom. ModiCorp and AIG Infrastructure hold 51 per cent in ModiSoft, while the rest is held by Distacom.

Modi Telstra chief operating officer S Venkatraman has relocated to Calcutta and is looking after the day-to-day affairs of the company. Industry sources said that Spice Telecom will be part of Modi's cellular operations in Calcutta.

Spice is already operating two circles - Punjab and Karnataka - and is likely to enter Modi's cellular operations in Calcutta. However, the details of Spice Telecom's plans are not known yet.

Modi Telstra had ended the financial year on June 30, 1999, with revenues of Rs 66.20 crore, a 15 per cent growth on the Rs 57.5 crore reported for the previous fiscal. It has a consumer base of over 50,000 subscribers in Calcutta.