FIPB to take up Vodafone's application on Tuesday

The Foreign Investment Promotion Board will take up on March 20, the proposal of UK mobile giant Vodafone to acquire 52 per cent direct stake in Hutchison-Essar from Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecom based on an enterprise value of $18.8 billion.

The FIPB meeting comes within five days of its previous meeting, where a host of proposals were recommended for clearance of Finance Minister P Chidambaram. Vodafone, the world's largest mobile services company, had applied to the FIPB for clearance on February 22 through Vodafone

International Holdings B V Netherlands.

Last month, Vodafone acquired controlling stake in Hutchison-Essar, India's fourth largest cellular operator for $11.1 billion.

On Thursday, Vodafone signed shareholders agreement with its local partner Essar, as per which Vodafone will hold 52 per cent and Essar 33 per cent. Minority Indian shareholders Asim Ghosh, Analjit Singh and IDFC hold 15 per cent.

The race for Hutch-Essar