New Delhi, April 10: Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecom International Ltd today revealed details of the shareholding of Asim Ghosh and Analjit Singh in Hutchison Essar.

Ghosh is the managing director of Hutchison Essar, while Singh is the chairman of Max India. Along with IDFC, they are the three minority shareholders in the country’s fourth largest telecom operator.

Ghosh and Singh, who together hold an indirect 12.26 per cent stake in Hutchison Essar, are at the centre of a heated controversy that has engulfed Vodafone’s takeover of a 52 per cent stake from HTIL in a $11.1-billion deal in February.

In the documents submitted to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), Hutchison said a fair market valuation has been reached for the 12.26 per cent of Ghosh and Singh in the company.

An FIPB official said Hutchison has estimated the value of Ghosh’s stake at $164 million and Singh’s at $266.25 million. The estimates will rise if Hutchison Essar’s valuation crosses $25 billion.

The brouhaha arose after the Reserve Bank of India said there were question marks over the ownership of the 12.26 per cent stake that Ghosh and Singh acquired in Hutchison Essar after receiving loans from HTIL in March 2006. HTIL has call options on the stake held by Ghosh and Singh. IDFC holds another 2.74 per cent.

The government must now determine whether HTIL breached the foreign investment cap of 74 per cent in the telecom sector. If the 12.26 per cent stake is considered to be held by resident Indians, HTIL would not have breached the limit. But if it determines that the two were merely fronting for HTIL, then the cap would be exceeded since the Ruias of the Essar group hold about 22 per cent of their 33 per cent stake in the telecom company through overseas subsidiaries.

Hutchison has said in its submission that if the FIPB sniffed a regulatory violation, then it was open to the sale of shares held by Ghosh and Singh. However, the FIPB official said the “stake transfer to a third party is not possible if it breaches sectoral capital and is subject to approval of regulatory agencies”.