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JAIN: So, you see it is after meeting maybe. Okay,
because MP's a friend of mine, I can tell him that money you
will have it after the meeting.
TEHELKA: Yeah.
*
* *
Now
we move onto brief snippets of the comical meetings with
Telecom
Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, and Minister of State
for Petroleum Santosh Gangwar. Meetings with Finance Minister
Yashwant Sinha, and Samata
minister Digvijay Singh were also fixed but West End didn't
go for them as we had reached a stage with R.K. Jain where
he was getting restive at the lack
of delivery of the promised money. |
[Camera shifts. T1, now in view to the extreme right side
of the screen, places his calling card on the table in front
of Paswan. A man in a black cap is seen sitting to Paswan's
right Paswan picks up card and inspects it.]
TEHELKA: I'm Alvin D'Souza, President of Westend International.
High technology areas in defence. And we were looking at a
kind of private… projects in India.
TEHELKA: Obviously. VSNL and…. We plan to come in.
We have huge plans to invest, provided the opportunity is
bright.
PASWAN (smiling): Now, they've opened
all that…
TEHELKA: Yeah.
PASWAN (turning to man in cap sitting to his right):
… now it is only is opportunity and opportunity.
[Pause]
PASWAN: …you have got any papers today?
TEHELKA: Yeah. They withheld…
PASWAN: Yeah, just give me, I'll give it to
my officer, she'll guide you and…I'll just tell her.
[PASWAN dials number on phone to his left and speaks
into the mouthpiece.]
PASWAN: This is D'Souza…Alvin D'Souza. He is
President of West End. He's interested in Internet…the ISP.
He will meet you now. Talk to him.
[PASWAN hangs up]
TEHELKA: And generally about the telecom scene and
like, encouraging the Indians to take the opportunity.
PASWAN: I…trying to…We've opened all the fields,
see [spreads his arms]. Except this international gateway.
TEHELKA: Aaah!
PASWAN: Otherwise everything is open. The basic
availability with the long-distance, the Internet…
TEHELKA: When do you plan to open this international
gateway?
PASWAN: International this…international…this
long-distance…we had earlier planned for 2004, but now we
have announced that 2002…sometime in 2002. And if you want
that…submitting rates…all this…
TEHELKA: Give me that thing as…
PASWAN: All the…we have all the amounts.
TEHELKA: Madras, Singapore…?
PASWAN: Yes.
*
* *
| Here
we chat with Minister of State for Petroleum Santosh Gangwar.
In a few days time he was about to leave on a roadshow
to Europe and the US. |
GANGWAR: You are based from?
TEHELKA: I'm based in London.
GANGWAR: London?
TEHELKA: Yeah. We represent a company called West End
International, which are interested in…
GANGWAR: I am there on…17-18…
TEHELKA: Okay.
GANGWAR: 17-18…I'll be in Houston.
TEHELKA: Houston…
GANGWAR: Road show…our oil…our ministry are in for
exploration blocks. Anyway I'll be going.
TEHELKA: Right now we are looking at sourcing crude
oil from countries, other than which have already sourced
them, to buy from the open market.
GANGWAR: Open market, by OPEC countries, by contracts,
national companies…Iraq…. Actually our demands are very much.
That's why we have to… And that's why…actually our indigenous
production is 30 per cent. And they are importing 70 per cent.
And in the terms of urgent rates, in respect of rupees, we
are…80,000 crore rupees.
TEHELKA: Per annum?
*
* *
| A
breather here before we go for the sprint. Let's get an
overview of the profession of defence middlemen, in India,
from Colonel Berry who in his nine years of 'liasoning'
has worked with all the big players. |
TEHELKA: You've been in the liaisoning field for how
long?
LT.COL. BERRY: For about nine years now.
TEHELKA: Nine years?
LT.COL. BERRY: Yeah.
TEHELKA: So where all…you just take me through those
nine years?
LT.COL. BERRY: See, I'll tell you…
TEHELKA: And the biggest deals that you have done.
LT.COL. BERRY: Yeah, yeah, I'll just do a …
TEHELKA: Briefly, yeah…
LT.COL. BERRY: Basically…this is the main thing…I mean…
TEHELKA: Yeah.
LT.COL. BERRY: …how we are going to proceed…
TEHELKA: Yeah.
LT.COL. BERRY: …and which are the ways and means of
doing the things.
TEHELKA: Okay.
LT.COL. BERRY: See, basically, initially I started
with Mr. Vipin Khanna, whom you wanted to meet also.
TEHELKA: Okay. Khanna, yeah, yeah.
LT.COL. BERRY: Yeah. Because there are only three-four
names which rotate around here. Because it is very secretive
and, you know, one has to be very, very cautious also in this
field. Mr. Vipin Khanna, Chaudhary and Nanda. These are the
three names which you'll always hear.
TEHELKA: Mathew was telling about a Mr. Sahni.
LT.COL. BERRY: Hmm? Listen. See, these are first rung.
I'm talking about the first rung. First rung is these three.
Then after that second rung, you know…
TEHELKA: Vipin Khanna, Chaudhury and…?
LT.COL. BERRY: …and…and Suresh Nanda.
TEHELKA: Okay.
LT.COL. BERRY: Yeah. And then in the second rung, you
know, people like Sahni, Gupta, even R.K. Gupta's brother.
Those guys are there.
TEHELKA: Okay.
LT.COL. BERRY: There is a Pichoria also there. There
is…there are plenty you know just trying to make their…
TEHELKA: Okay.
LT.COL. BERRY: …I mean at least giving an impression
as if they are number one and all that. So this is that. So
I started my thing basically with Mr. Vipin Khanna.
TEHELKA: Okay.
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