Sarin, Ruia call on Maran, deal expected on Thursday

NEW DELHI: British mobile giant Vodafone's CEO Arun Sarin and Essar Group Vice Chairman Ravi Ruia on Thursday met telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran and are understood to have briefed him about future plans of their joint venture.

Earlier in day, Sarin struck an optimistic note about signing a deal with Essar for jointly running India's fourth largest mobile firm, to be called Vodafone Essar.

"..Hopefully that is something we might be doing here," Sarin told reporters. He is scheduled to announce a partnership deal with Ruias promoted Essar Group, which owns a 33 per cent stake in the venture.

"Wait till 3 pm today," Sarin told reporters after meeting Maran, when asked about the day's agenda.

Last month, the UK giant had clinched a deal to acquire 67 per cent controlling stake in Hutch-Essar from Hong Kong based Hutchison Telecom International.

Sarin is expected to fly to Mumbai later on Thursday, where the Ruias are hosting a dinner for the India born CEO of the British firm.