Vodafone to invest USD 2 bn in India

Mumbai, June 15 (UNI) UK-based telecom major Vodafone will invest US 2 billion dollars in the mobile sector for expanding its business in India.

The Indian-born Arun Sarin, CEO of the British mobile leader, was in the city this week. He constituted a new Board to administer India's third-largest mobile firm Hutch-Essar, where it took 67 per cent stake earlier this year.

The new Board has 12 members -- four from Essar and eight from Vodafone, including two independent directors.

''The meeting was excellent ... we will invest two billion dollars this year in India,'' Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin told reporters emerging from the first meeting of the new Board. The investment would be raised based on the progress, he said.

The constitution of the board marks the beginning of integration of Vodafone and its Indian partner Essar, which Mr Sarin hoped would be completed by September.

''This (integration) will be an ongoing process, but we hope to complete it by end of September,'' he added.

Vodafone had bought a controlling stake in India's fourth largest cellular company Hutch-Essar, in which the Ruias hold 33 per cent stake, in February. Vodafone had paid US 10.9 billion dollars to buy a controlling stake in the venture from Hutchison Telecom International Ltd.

UNI