New Delhi: Claiming to have received favourable response from the joint venture's foreign partner Hutchison Telecom (HTIL), the new suitor for Hutch-Essar – Hinduja Group is expecting a decision by the end of this month.
PTI quoted Hinduja Group President Gopichand Hinduja as saying "We have received a favourable response from Hutch. They have welcomed our interest and waiting for our proposal. A decision will be taken by the end of this month."
Hinduja TMT Executive Chairman Ashok Hinduja on Thursday said that the group was interested in acquiring controlling stake in the mobile joint venture.
Heavyweights like Vodafone, Reliance Communications and Maxis Communications are also eyeing for the venture.
Last year Hinduja TMT had offloaded its residual 5.11 per cent stake in Hutch-Essar for $450 million to HTIL.
"We sent them a message reminding them of our understanding that whenever they disinvested they would also give us an opportunity," said Gopichand.
"Hutch was our partner but due to consolidation our share-holding went down to five or six per cent, which was not consistent with our business philosophy. We always believe that our investment in companies should be 51 per cent or more," he said.
"Our relationship with Hutch has always been very good... We were the first to get into the telecom sector in India when we were awarded Gujarat and Tamil Nadu circles. We have developed the Gujarat circle. We know the ins and outs of the business," he said.
The Hinduja Group also has interests in automobile, software and banking business among other areas.
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