NEW DELHI -(Dow Jones)- India's telecommunications minister Tuesday said he has asked mobile telephone operators to cut tariffs.

"I have requested the operators'...termination charges would be reduced by 2010, accordingly tariff can be reduced," A. Raja told reporters after a meeting with the chief executives of several mobile operators.

India's telecom regulator, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, had in March cut the call termination charges for all domestic calls on mobile or fixed lines by a third to INR0.20 per minute.

The call termination charge is a fee the call-originating company pays to the called network.

-By R. Jai Krishna, Dow Jones Newswires; +91-22-6145-6121; ameya.karve@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

11-03-09 0915ET