Vodafone raising India venture stake by 6 p.c

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Vodafone, which directly owns 52 per cent of its Indian mobile joint venture, is buying a 6 per cent stake from two of its associates for 8.62 billion rupees ($180 million), the Economic Times reported on Wednesday.

Asim Ghosh, the former managing director of the Indian venture who owns 4.68 per cent of Vodafone Essar, and Indian businessman Analjit Singh, who holds 7.58 per cent, would sell 49 per cent of their holdings to Vodafone, the paper said.

Vodafone took over the Indian firm in 2007 by buying a controlling stake from Hutchison Telecom. To meet India's foreign ownership limits, it took a direct 52 per cent stake and had options over 15 per cent held by Ghosh, Singh and infrastructure finance company IDFC.

A change in foreign ownership rules earlier this year, where indirect foreign investment routed through a company owned by Indians would be treated as local equity, made it possible for Vodafone to increase its stake, the paper said.

The paper cited an email from Vodafone saying both Ghosh and Singh wanted to exercise their options to sell a stake.