The government on Tuesday said that the proposal to increase the foreign direct investment limit in the Indian telecom sector from 49 per cent to 74 per cent would be taken after the general elections in April-May 2004.

Speaking at the Telecom Summit India, 2004, organised by global research and advisory firm Gartner in New Delhi, IT and Communication Minister Arun Shourie said the any decision to 'hike FDI limits' would be taken up after the general elections.

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Shourie said: "It is a matter to be addressed after elections depending on government portfolios. Only the prime minister and the deputy prime minister can decide," he said.

The Group of Ministers on Telecom had on September 25, 2003 recommended that foreign investment limit in the telecom sector be raised to 74 per cent from the current 49 per cent, subject to the management control remaining in Indian hands.

''The FDI limit will be 49 per cent, but foreign institutional investor investment will not be a part of this limit. So the total foreign investment cap will be 74 per cent,'' Shourie had said then.