Norwegian firm Telenor has posted a 79.12 per cent fall in its first quarter net profit at 583 million kroner (about $100.3 million).

Telenor's India unit has reported an operating loss of 4.68 billion Norwegian kroner ($806 million) burdened by a huge impairment charge on its Indian operations owing to the prevailing uncertainty in the country's telecom sector.

The Norway based firm said it would be difficult to continue business in India if the telecom regulator's proposals on spectrum auction were accepted by the government.

The company had written off its remaining assets in India worth $680 million last month.

The company's net profit stood at 2.79 billion kroner ($0.48 billion) in the first quarter of 2011. 

Telenor holds about 67 per cent in the Indian joint venture Uninor with the rest of the stake being owned by domestic real estate major Unitech. 

"As a result of the high uncertainty in India, we at the present time financial outlook for 2012 for the group without Uninor. On a comparable basis, the positive outlook maintained," Telenor CEO Telenor Jon Fredrik Baksaas said in a statement. 

Telenor had also warned it will be forced to exit India if the sectoral regulator Trai's proposals to auction airwaves at around 10 times the price used in 2008 are accepted. 

"The recent recommendation from the regulator on spectrum auction, following the Supreme Court's ruling to revoke all licences issued in 2008, has severe negative impact on both the telecom industry in India and Uninor," Baksaas said. 

"We are working actively to safeguard our investment and urge the Government of India to clarify a sound framework for the industry." 

Revenues, however, increased 4.23 per cent to 25.11 billion kroner ($4.32 billion) in the reported quarter from 24.09 billion kroner ($4.14 billion) in the year ago period. 

"I am pleased to present probably another quarter of solid operating results for the Telenor Group. We maintain the growth rate from 2011 with an organic revenue growth of eight per cent, margins in line with last year, and an improved cash flow," Baksaas said.