BSNL and MTNL issued a joint statement informing that both the companies were not in any way involved in the consortium which bagged stake in Zain. The two companies said that presently they were only involved in talks with the consortium and that too preliminary.

“MTNL & BSNL would like to clarify that no view has been taken regarding participation in the said consortium as reported in REUTERS.  However, MTNL & BSNL are always on the look out to explore all types of overseas business opportunities to expand their operations,” said the statement.