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VSNL protest against taxes, matter to be taken up with FM
The Telecom Comission on Monday offered to take up with the finance ministry the issue of the Rs 1,700 crore tax slapped on Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL).
The Telecom Comission on Monday offered to take up with the finance ministry the issue of the Rs 1,700 crore tax slapped on Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL).
Chairman and Managing Director S K Gupta said that VSNL has been asked to pay Rs 1,700 crores as sales tax. ''We have payed Rs 565 crores in protest'' Mr Gupta said.
Meanwhile, Telecom Commission Chairman and Secretary, Department of Telecom (DoT), Shayamal Ghosh said that the matter would be taken up with the finance ministry to wrangle out a favourable judgement. The matter has also been put forth before the Appelate Tribunal for consideration. Mr Gupta at a ceremony earlier, presented a dividend cheque for Rs 10.06 crores to Communications Minister Ram Vilas Paswan. The cheque was towards the final dividend for the financial year 1999-2000.
Earlier on 24th May, 2000, VSNL paid Rs. 30.19 crores as interim dividend. That was the first time that VSNL had declared an interim dividend to its shareholders. With the present dividend of Rs. 10.06 crores, the total dividend paid by VSNL to government in this financial year 1999-2000 comes to Rs. 40.25 crores. VSNL also approved bonus of two new shares for each existing share held as on the record date. Despite the dividend tax been doubled from 11 to 22 per cent resulting in higher total payout from the company, VSNL maintained the same percentage of dividend and has declared the total dividend at the same level as for the last year ie, Rs eight per share for the financial ending 31st March, 2000. VSNL has registered a revenue marginally higher at Rs. 7230.5 crores, compared to the previous year figure of Rs. 7175.6 crores. VSNL's profit before tax was at Rs. 1942.7 crores, which is almost at the same levels as the previous year figure of Rs. 1965.5 crores. The profit after tax, however, declined to Rs. 840.3 crores as compared to Rs. 1325 crores for the previous year. This decline was due to write off of investment in ICO to the extent of Rs. 512.7 crores. The company handled 2245.83 million minutes of telephony traffic during the year 1999-2000 exhibiting a growth of 16.06 per cent. An important aspect of the performance of the previous year is the strong and sustained growth in non-telephony and value-added services by VSNL. The company's Internet revenues have grown by over 21 per cent to Rs. 209.5 crores compared to previous year Rs. 173.3 crores. Vsnl has been accorded the status of star trading house by the government of India and it earned foreign exchange of Rs. 4817.12 crores. vsnl was the highest foreign exchange earner in India for the year 1999-2000.
Bureau Report
Meanwhile, Telecom Commission Chairman and Secretary, Department of Telecom (DoT), Shayamal Ghosh said that the matter would be taken up with the finance ministry to wrangle out a favourable judgement. The matter has also been put forth before the Appelate Tribunal for consideration. Mr Gupta at a ceremony earlier, presented a dividend cheque for Rs 10.06 crores to Communications Minister Ram Vilas Paswan. The cheque was towards the final dividend for the financial year 1999-2000.
Earlier on 24th May, 2000, VSNL paid Rs. 30.19 crores as interim dividend. That was the first time that VSNL had declared an interim dividend to its shareholders. With the present dividend of Rs. 10.06 crores, the total dividend paid by VSNL to government in this financial year 1999-2000 comes to Rs. 40.25 crores. VSNL also approved bonus of two new shares for each existing share held as on the record date. Despite the dividend tax been doubled from 11 to 22 per cent resulting in higher total payout from the company, VSNL maintained the same percentage of dividend and has declared the total dividend at the same level as for the last year ie, Rs eight per share for the financial ending 31st March, 2000. VSNL has registered a revenue marginally higher at Rs. 7230.5 crores, compared to the previous year figure of Rs. 7175.6 crores. VSNL's profit before tax was at Rs. 1942.7 crores, which is almost at the same levels as the previous year figure of Rs. 1965.5 crores. The profit after tax, however, declined to Rs. 840.3 crores as compared to Rs. 1325 crores for the previous year. This decline was due to write off of investment in ICO to the extent of Rs. 512.7 crores. The company handled 2245.83 million minutes of telephony traffic during the year 1999-2000 exhibiting a growth of 16.06 per cent. An important aspect of the performance of the previous year is the strong and sustained growth in non-telephony and value-added services by VSNL. The company's Internet revenues have grown by over 21 per cent to Rs. 209.5 crores compared to previous year Rs. 173.3 crores. Vsnl has been accorded the status of star trading house by the government of India and it earned foreign exchange of Rs. 4817.12 crores. vsnl was the highest foreign exchange earner in India for the year 1999-2000.
Bureau Report