Vodafone Group to hold its board meeting in Delhi
MUMBAI: UK-based telecom company Vodafone Group will hold its board meeting in Delhi later this month, said two people aware of this. It will be the second such meeting in the country since Vodafone acquired its business in India.
The meeting is an “ordinary” board meeting with “routine” agenda items, but is being used to send a message to the current administration about its commitment to the Indian business, one of the people told ET. The second such meeting in eight years has been timed with the budget and an upcoming crucial spectrum auction, the person added.
Vodafone’s chief executive Vittorio Colao had said in September that the company had “two hearts — one is Germany and the other is India”. The second person said items on the agenda include a review of the India business and future fund infusion for the local arm as Vodafone India prepares for critical auctions of spectrum next month.
India is among the top three fastest growing markets for Vodafone, Colao had said. Vodafone India is the country’s second largest operator, comprising the largest number of subscribers among Vodafone’s businesses. India has the highest minutes used and more data bytes consumed than any other business within the group. A Vodafone spokesman declined to comment. Vodafone hasn’t had an easy time in India.
It is embroiled in a seven-year-old tax dispute with claims amounting to Rs 13,000 crore for not withholding tax at the time it acquired its Indian business from Hutchison in 2007.
The previous government made a retrospective change in the law to impose a tax demand on Vodafone that had been overturned by the Supreme Court. Relations with the new government seem to be heading in the right direction after the administration let go of a transfer pricing tax claim Vodafone India had challenged and won in the Bombay High Court. The government had an option to appeal the decision in the Supreme Court.
