Wednesday, January 4 2006 19:48 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Bangalore: The Tatas plan to pump in an investment in the region of Rs 13,000 crore in the next three-four years to expand its telecom business in an aggressive manner in India, a top executive of the group said today (Jan 4,2006).

"It (the investment) can be anything up to Rs 25,000 crore in the next 3-4 years including the investment that has already been made which is Rs 10,000 crore to Rs 12,000 crore", J J Irani, Director of Tata Sons, the Tata Group's holding company, told reporters here.

The Tatas expect a shake-out in the telecom space evantually with only four-five players surviving including BSNL, Reliance, Bharti and Tatas, he opined.

He said telecom is one area where the Tatas are making a 'real, solid foray' as they believe that "This (telecom) is something which is bound have an impact on the people of the country, and we have to be in telecom".

Irani said the Tata Group is also looking at new areas for a foray, like biotechnology.

"We are keeping an eye. But we haven't done anything major (in biotechology so far)," he said.

The Group has no plans to enter the civil aviation sector, he added.

Irani said Tata Group companies like TCS and Tata Motors would continue to look at acquisition opportunities overseas.

"We want the Tata brand to be known, hopefully, internationally as commonly as is known in India," he said.