Seeks capital gains tax payment prior to FIPB clearance.
Agency reports said Hutchison Whampoa had received bid interest in its Indian mobile business, but that the prices indicated so far were too low.
Two private cellular operators in Delhi -- AirTel and Hutchison-Essar complained on Friday of disruption in calls from cell-to-fixed line phones and vice versa even as state owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd dismissed
Hutchinson Max Telecom Pvt Ltd is planning to consolidate its various telecom operations in India under a single entity, including that of Hutchison Essar Telecom Ltd and Fascel Ltd, for which the company has filed an application with FIPB.
Sterling Infotech Group and Hutchison Essar Group have terminated the agreement, which contemplated acquisition of Sterling's Aircel and Aircel Cellular by Aircel Digilink India, a part of the Hutch Group.
The department of telecommunications is planning to seek details from four operators - Bharti-Airtel, Hutchison-Essar, Tata Teleservices Ltd and Reliance Communications - on the fulfillment of rollout obligations under the mobile telephony licence.
The much-talked-about sale of Ambuja Cement and ACC by Holcim Group will see the single-biggest outflow of foreign capital from the country if the two cement firms are acquired by Indian investors. The deal, valued at nearly $10.35 billion, will put in the shade Cairn Energy Plc's exit from India in 2010, when it sold Cairn India to Vedanta Group for $4.48 billion. According to various reports, big business groups such as AV Birla, JSW Group, and Adani Group are in the fray to acquire Holcim's assets in India.
Telecom services, cell-to-fixed line phones and vice versa remained crippled for the second day on Saturday even as cell operators shot off letters to telecom regulator and state-owned MTNL.
The Department of Telecom, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of External Affairs and the Department of Economic Affairs had to give their comments on the proposal, sources said.
The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) on Monday deferred a decision on Vodafone's Rs 10,141 crore (Rs 101.41 billion) proposal to buy out minority shareholders in its Indian arm as the Ministry of Home Affairs is yet to give its comments.
The dispute between Vodafone and the Ruia-owned Essar Group, its 33 per cent partners in Vodafone-Essar, over ownership of BPL Mobile deepened this week after the UK-based telecom major alleged that Essar had altered the share structure of the Mumbai service provider in violation of a 2006 agreement
Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecom Limited is expected to submit details of loans to two Indian minority shareholders this week to the finance ministry, which is looking into alleged breach of foreign direct investment norms in Hutch-Essar.
Delhi High Court issued notices on Monday to the Centre, Hutchison Telecom India Ltd, Hutch-Essar and its minority shareholders among others on a petition alleging breach of foreign direct investment norms in telecom sector.
The government on Friday cleared British telecom firm Vodafone's application for buying a majority stake in India's fourth-largest mobile operator Hutch-Essar Ltd.
India has challenged in a Singapore court a verdict of an international arbitration tribunal that overturned its demand for Rs 22,100 crore in back taxes from Vodafone Group Plc, sources said on Thursday. An international arbitration court had on September 25 rejected tax authorities' demand for Rs 22,100 crore in back taxes and penalties relating to the British telecom giant's 2007 acquisition of an Indian operator. Two sources privy to the development said India had 90 days to file an appeal against the tribunal award, and the same was done in a Singapore court earlier this week.
The IT department had issued a tax assessment order in December 2011 asking Vodafone to add Rs 8,500 crore (Rs 85 billion) to its taxable income, thus raising the tax liability of the company.
The government may be waiting for the outcome of an arbitration initiated against its levy of Rs 10,247 crore retrospective tax on UK's Cairn Energy Plc before deciding on appealing against losing a tax case against Vodafone Group, sources said. An international arbitral tribunal is expected to give a decree within next few days on Cairn Energy Plc's challenge to the Indian government seeking Rs 10,247 crore in retrospective taxes. If the arbitration award in the Cairn cases goes against India, the government has to pay the British firm over Rs 7,600 crore to reverse the dividend and tax refund it had ceased and shares it sold to recover part of the tax demand.
Vodafone recently bought the 67 per cent stake held by Hutchison. The remaining equity is held by the Ruias.
As top bosses of Vodafone and Essar arrived in Hong Kong to negotiate a deal for acquiring Hutchison Telecom's Indian business, its parent company has indicated it will not consider any offer below $14 billion.
Cut-throat competition, high spectrum costs, and frequent flip-flops in government policies have made it difficult for Vodafone to make money in the country.
World's second largest mobile operator Vodafone Plc of UK on Tuesday sought FIPB approval to invest Rs 10,141 crore (Rs 101.41 billion) in raising its stake in the Indian arm to 100 per cent.
The race for Hutch-Essar, the country's fourth largest mobile service provider, quickened on Wednesday with Hong-Kong based Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd formally informing the 4 companies in the fray to submit their bids by Friday
Hutchison Telecom International Ltd is believed to have called a meeting of shareholders on February 15 to seek their approval for the proposed sale of its 67 per cent stake in India's Hutch-Essar.
The Ruias are contemplating approaching the Ministry of Company Affairs for its views on the Right of First Refusal (RoFR) clause in their shareholders' agreement with Hutchison Telecom International Ltd (HTIL).
Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecom International Ltd, which sold its majority stake in Hutch-Essar to Vodafone, has already made its final submission before the investment regulator.
The race for acquiring India's third largest mobile services provider Hutch, has hotted up with Reliance Communications backed by an US equity funder
Hindujas have virtually decided to sell their 5.1 per cent stake in mobile company Hutch-Essar to Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd for an estimated value up to $450 million (Rs 20.25 billion).
Hutchison Telecom International Ltd will convene an extraordinary general meeting of the shareholders on March 9 to vote on sale of its controlling stake in Indian mobile operator Hutch-Essar to UK mobile phone giant Vodafone.
Special CBI Judge O P Saini adjourned Monday's proceedings in the wake of stay granted by the Supreme Court on separate pleas filed by Mittal and Ruia challenging the March 19 order of the trial court summoning them as accused in the case.
Hutch's migration to the Vodafone brand became complete on Wednesday, but the pug that made the mobile company ever so popular with the masses will remain.
Vodafone's long-pending tax dispute with the government might be heading for a resolution, with the finance ministry considering changing the Income-Tax Act's retrospective amendment and taxing indirect transfer of assets prospectively from 2012, the year the law was clarified.
Special CBI Judge O P Saini adjourned today's proceedings after advocate Siddharth Agarwal, appearing for Mittal, said the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear in March the separate pleas filed by Mittal and Ruia challenging the March 19, 2013 order of the trial court summoning them as accused in the case.
Egyptian mobile operator Orascom has said it was open to sell a part of its 19.3 per cent stake in Hutchison Telecom International Ltd, a promoter of Indian cellular joint venture Hutch-Essar.
The apex court had on December 4 last year, reserved the verdict after hearing counsel for corporate honchos and the Central Bureau of Investigation.
The retrospective tax decision reversing the January 2012 Supreme Court verdict in the Vodafone case has often been cited as the reason for foreign investors losing confidence in India as an investment destination.
Sachin Bansal, who had co-founded Flipkart with Binny Bansal in 2007, would exit the company
