New Delhi, Sept 6 — The monopoly of Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) over international calls would come to an end by April 1, 2002, the government said today.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) presided over by the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, hours before he left for his tour to the USA.

The Union Communications Minister, Mr Ram Vilas Paswan, told newspersons after the meeting, that the government would compensate the VSNL for the losses it would incur due to the end of its monopoly ahead of the earlier schedule of 2004.

The VSNL, a public sector undertaking, was granted monopoly in the international calls up to 2004 in the year 1994 to make it financially strong and enable the company to compete in the post-liberalisation period.

As per the package for the VSNL, the CCEA has exempted the company of the Rs 100 crore entry fee for the national long distance operations. The fee already paid by the VSNL would be refunded.

The Rs 400 crore preference guarantee will also be refunded to the VSNL. Besides this, it will be exempted from the payment of 10 per cent revenue sharing for two years — between 2004 and 2006.

The VSNL will also be granted the status of a category of internet service provider as part of the compensation package.

The package is expected to take care of the losses it may incur due to the early end of monopoly, Mr Paswan said.

The Union Minister said the decision of the Cabinet Committee would be communicated to the VSNL and the company would take steps to end the monopoly.

The CCEA also gave its approval for Wipro Ltd to issue ADR/GDRs amounting to $ 500 million, which was inclusive of premium and any green shoe option or equity not exceeding 2 per cent of the total equity capital.

The company proposed to issue ADR/GDRs up to a maximum of $ 150 million. The total non-resident holding after issue, including employee stock option, should not exceed 10 per cent of the ADR/GDR of the issued paid up capital of the company, an official spokesperson said.

The proposed equity structure would be 79.96 per cent for Indian companies, 11.38 per cent for public, 0.55 per cent for trusts, 0.35 per cent for Indian financial institutions, 0.16 per cent for mutual funds and 0.4 per cent for banks. The total resident share holding would be 218,166,136 or 92.45 per cent.