Telecom Finance Corporation to be set up by 2017:Telecom Min

Telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said that a Telecom Finance Corporation (TFC) will be set up by 2017, under the 12th Five Year Plan period (2012-17) .

"It would be registered as non-banking finance company and non-deposit infrastructure finance company. The Telecom Finance Corporation would be a public sector unit under the administrative control of Department of Telecom," he said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

The time frame to set up TFC is up to March 31, 2017, he added.

The Telecom Finance Corporation will provide funds to the telecom sector. The main sources of funds would be through issue of taxable and tax-free bonds.

The other source of funds include term loans from banks/financial institutions and off-shore borrowings and borrowings from multilateral agencies such as Asian Development Bank, International Monetary Fund, etc.