Apart from BPL, the other likely contenders for the VSNL are: Bharti Enterprises, Reliance Telecom, Birla, and Tata Telecom. Apart from these, AT&T and France Telecom are the two international players who are keen on VSNL as part of a consortium or joint-venture.

While internationally, British Telecom (BT) is also into international long-distance (ILD) telephony in a joint venture with AT&T, industry experts do not expect BT to enter ILD in India, since it is pulling out of all its businesses in India as a part of its strategy to quit Asia.

Meanwhile, experts say that the rider of Rs 2,500 crore net worth floor for bidding for VSNL is just a red herring. The logic: to become long-distance players, the likely bidders will need to tie-up with foreign companies to capitalize on the revenue generated by the calls originating and terminating abroad.

``And Rs 2,500 crore - which would be about $600 million - as net worth for an international company is chicken feed,'' says an official of a multinational telecom giant. Adds Mr Chandrashekhar: "Net worth of Rs 2,500 crore seems reasonable for a consortium, specially since VSNL is a big company and you do not want frivolous bids."

Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal, CMD, Bharti Enterprises, also does not see the Rs 2,500 crore net worth condition as a deterrent: "It should be okay for players bidding for a company of that size." However, according to Mr Mittal, Bharti Enterprises is yet to take a final view on participating in the bidding process for VSNL. "We will come out with a concrete plan by March 10," he added.

Meanwhile, HFCL has denied that it is interested in VSNL. According to Mr Mahendra Nahata, director, HFCL Group: ``While our net worth qualifies us as a potential bidder, we are not interested in ILD.''

Experts see new alliances being formed for the VSNL bid and international telephony. "Do not assume that those who are together in the cellular business will be together for the ILD business as well," says an official of a telecom firm. And given the international trend of focussing on different segments, the same holds true for cellular players. "It would be wrong to expect big cellular players to jump into ILD. Internationally, Hutchison is not into ILD even though it is in cellular in a big way," an analyst said.

Experts also don't expect VSNL to attract very high bids. "VSNL is profitable only as long as its monopoly is protected. By the time the deal comes through earliest in 2002, the scene will change completely. Why should I pay millions of dollars to the government to pick up a 25 per cent stake and also get government interference in bargain, when I can easily duplicate VSNL's assets in six months?" says a senior official.