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India hails Vodafone entry in telecom market



By Surojit Chatterjee, AP
17 February 2007 @ 9:45 am IST

New Delhi - Vodafone's winning bid of $ 18.8 billion for Hutchison-Essar Ltd., India's fourth largest private mobile services operator, has been hailed by Indian corporate honchos, increase in competition notwithstanding.

"We are pleased to welcome Vodafone and congratulate them on their Hutch acquisition. The Indian telecom sector is one of the most sought after in the world and the bid is a strong endorsement of the government policy to promote the telecom sector," said Bharti Airtel’s Sunil Mittal. Airtel is the largest private mobile services operator in India having about 32 million mobile phone subscribers.

"Bharti and Vodafone have enjoyed a very fruitful partnership and both companies will work with the industry towards connecting millions of people across India," he added.

Vodafone, which has a 10 percent stake in Bharti Airtel, has sold back 5.6 percent to the promoter Sunil Mittal's group for $ 1.6 billion.

"Vodafone has sold its 5.6 percent direct stake in Bharti Airtel to the group," Mittal said, elaborating that the deal was on a deferred payment basis.

Vodafone will, however, continue to hold an indirect 4.4 percent stake in the company, as a financial investor and will neither have any representation on Bharti Airtel's board nor any management rights.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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