Sunil Mittal's Bharti, in which British telecom firm Vodafone has 10 per cent stake, said on Thursday it is yet to hear a final word from the UK-based operator on its plans to buyout Hutchison Telecom's stake in Indian joint venture Hutch-Essar.
"We have not heard from Vodafone on their final position on Hutch-Essar," a Bharti spokesperson said.
There are speculation that once Vodafone is through with acquiring Hutchison Telecom's stake in India, it would exit Bharti by paying a premium.
Bharti's response comes on a day when Vodafone and Essar submitted offers for Hutchsion Telecom's stake in Hutch-Essar, triggering a bidding war for the Indian mobile operator that is being valued up to $18 billion.
A day after the visit of top brasses of both Vodafone and Essar, British media reported, quoting