VSNL director (operations) Amitabh Kumar told The Financial Express that the final dividend of 80 per cent is irrespective of a provision made for its investments in ICO Global Communications to the tune of about Rs 500 crore.

Kumar said the company's board of directors from New Delhi could not reach the venue till Tuesday afternoon due to some traffic problems. However, the VSNL board will take up the bonus issue next time.

As on March 31, 1999, the board of directors of VSNL comprises SK Gupta (chairman and manaing director), R Gupta (director - network), V Goyal (director - development), RSP Sinha (director - finance), Amitabh Kumar (director - operations), SA Tirmizi, BR Khurana, Ashok Wadhwa, Subodh Bhargava, NR Narayana Murthy and HP Wagle.

On February 6, 1992, the state-run company had issued a bonus in the ratio of 1:3 to the central government that currently holds about 52.97 per cent equity stake in VSNL.

Although, VSNL has enough funds, it never announced a bonus offerings after the first disinvestment during January-February 1992. As on March 31, 1999, the company's reserve funds stand at Rs 5,459.6 crore.

This development comes as a surprise to the investor community across the country. The proposed bonus issue would have doubled the paid-up capital of VSNL from the present Rs 95 crore, if the company announces it in the ratio of 1:1 as expected by the marketmen.

The expected bonus announcement had taken the VSNL share prices to new highs over the past few days in a market that has been lacklustre. The bonus issue would have been a boon to the company's American Depositary Receipts (ADR) listing at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in end-July.

On Tuesday, the VSNL scrip closed at a low of Rs 1,255.6 at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) against Monday's close of Rs 1,259. The intra-day high/low of the share was Rs 1,334 and Rs 1,160 respectively. The 52-week high of the scrip was Rs 3,250.

However, the board has approved the audited financial results for the fiscal ended March 31, 2000, it is learnt. The company's revenue and net profit during 1999-00 was Rs 7,272 crore and Rs 799 crore respectively, according to unaudited financial results.

VSNL is eyeing a bottomline revenue of Rs 1,700 crore to Rs 1,800 crore during the current fiscal, while the growth in total revenue could be more than 20 per cent. The state-run company is aiming an average income of Rs 70 crore from its strategic alliance with Indiainfo.com during 2000-01.