Cabinet clears Vodafone's Rs 10,141 crore FDI proposal

The Cabinet today approved UK-based telecom player Vodafone's Rs 10,141 crore proposal to fully own its Indian unit.

Vodafone, which entered India in 2007 by buying Hutchison Whampoa's local cellular assets in an $11 billion (or nearly Rs 68,000 crore) deal, directly and indirectly owns a combined 84.5 per cent of Vodafone India, the country's No.2 telecoms company by users and revenue.

The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) had in December cleared Vodafone's foreign direct investment (FDI) proposal to hike its stake in the Indian unit to 100 per cent.

Vodafone will buy an almost 11 per cent stake in the unit from Piramal Enterprises and the remainder held by investors including businessman Analjit Singh, to own 100 per cent of Vodafone India.

The government had in August last year allowed foreign companies in the telecommunications sector to raise their holdings to 100 per cent.