Vodafone's outgoing CEO Arun Sarin announced on Tuesday an additional investment of 200 million pound for its India business.
LONDON: What could be seen as a parting gift to the country of his origin, UK telecom giant Vodafone's outgoing CEO Arun Sarin announced on Tuesday an additional investment of 200 million pound for its India business.
Vodafone had announced an investment of one billion pound last year when it entered India after buying out the Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecom International's controlling stake to drive growth.
Vodafone would undertake a capex of 200 million pound more in India, said Sarin in an interaction with analysts.
Sarin said Vodafone is striving for 100 million customers from the current 44 million and for that they are in dire needs of more spectrum. He is also hopeful that 3G services would be rolled out in India in the next 12 months.
Talking of a business model which would reduce costs, Sarin was emphatic on inorganic growth prospects.
The CEO who has shown a knack for overseas acquisitions also spoke about the "opportunities" in African and Asian markets.
"We are interested in large markets in Asia and Africa... Our African strategy is to take control of Vodacom," said Sarin. Vodafone recently said it was not bidding to acquire South African top telecom company MTN, which was in talks with Bharti earlier and now with RCom.
The British telecom giant today announced a 14.1 per cent jump in the group's revenues to 35.5 billion pound with its India business delivering a strong growth of over 50 per cent during the financial year ended March 31.
"Our existing emerging market assets continue to perform well. Vodafone Essar in India is delivering very strong growth and performing in line with our acquisition plan.
"Revenues increased by 50 per cent during the year driven by rapid expansion of the customer base with an average of 1.5 million net additions per month since acquisition," Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin earlier said in a statement.
The company has over 260 million mobile customers worldwide with strong growth during the year in the Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Pacific (EMAPA) region.
"We have also established an independent tower company with two other operators to drive further strong and cost efficient growth," Sarin added.
Vodafone said on Tuesday its chief executive Arun Sarin would leave the group after five years at the helm, as it announced a strong full-year result for 2008 with a positive outlook for 2009.
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