Indian state-run telecoms firms Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited have not joined a consortium seeking to acquire Kuwait's Zain, Junior Telecoms minister Gurudas Kamath told parliament on Monday.

Kamath's answer was in a written reply to a question submitted in parliament. BSNL and MTNL have been considering partnering India's little-known Vavasi Group and Malaysian billionaire Syed Mokhtar al-Bukhary to take a 46 per cent stake in Zain.

BSNL chairman Kuldeep Goyal has said the firm would directly open negotiations with Zain to take the stake if the consortium's exclusive talks fell through.-Reuters