Vodafone to invest 2 bn dollars on expansion in India

British mobile phone company Vodafone Group Plc will invest two billion dollars to expand its new India mobile unit, its Chief Executive Arun Sarin said on Friday.

"Last year, we spent about a billion dollars. This year, we'll spend at least two billion dollars. We will monitor the situation to see how many cell sites we can add. Clearly, we are interested in having new customers join the Vodafone Essar Company. And that's what we are about," he told reporters after a meeting with Hutch Essar officials.

Sarin also said he was talking to other mobile firms in India on the possibility of sharing infrastructure like towers.

"Infrastructure sharing is one important way for us to reach every possible consumer...the 1.1 (billion) people who live in India. What we are interested in doing is setting up a platform with whoever wants to join us so we can build our India (operations) in a very cost effective way, most importantly provide excellent services that Vodafone Essar can provide to consumers. We are well on our way with a number of parties to make sure we have excellent network experience around the country," he said.

Vodafone has already announced network sharing plans with top mobile operator Bharti Airtel Ltd. in which Vodafone had owned 10 percent.

It will appoint eight members to Vodafone Essar's 12-member board, with Essar appointing four, Sarin said.

Vodafone, the world's biggest mobile phone operator outside China, agreed in February to buy a majority stake in Hutchison Essar from Hong Kong's Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd. for 11.1 billion dollars.

But Indian officials later questioned the deal, particularly the size of the foreign holding, and sought further details.

India's foreign investment body finally approved Vodafone's acquisition of the country's third-biggest mobile operator in April, and the company is expected to officially change its name to Vodafone Essar by the end of this month.

India is the world's fastest-growing cellular market that has been adding more than six million users every month, lured by call rates as low as one US cent a minute.