The Hindu Business Line : Arun Sarin makes £200-m parting gift to Indian operations

New Delhi, May 27 Giving a parting gift to the country of his origin, Vodafone’s outgoing honcho Mr Arun Sarin on Tuesday announced an additional investment of £200 million in the Indian operations.

This is in addition to the £2-billion investment the company had announced after it had acquired Hutchison’s stake in Essar Hutchison last year. While Mr Sarin’s detractors had criticised him for making an “expensive” acquisition in India, one year later he may be leaving satisfied with the way the Indian operations have contributed to Vodafone’s global turnaround story.

The Indian deal has since symbolised Mr Sarin’s successful strategy to expand into emerging markets as a counter to slowing growth in European countries. But it is not that he has had it all easy. At Vodafone’s 2006 annual meeting, 15 per cent of the investors voted against his re-election. Mr Sarin, a graduate from Indian Institute of Technology, also faced the wrath of shareholders in 2004 when he entered into an auction to buy AT&T Wireless.

Probably, his roots in an Indian military family and interest in boxing helped him to ride the crunch time. That is why his sudden exit from Vodafone has surprised the Indian telecom industry including his rivals.

Mr Sarin was considered a close ally of Bharti’s Mr Sunil Mittal, who probably was instrumental in getting Vodafone into India through a minority stake in Bharti Airtel.

“He is a great professional and a friend. He has had a spectacular stint at Vodafone. He has made every Indian proud. I wish him the very best in his future endeavours,” said Mr Mittal.

Company insiders said that the Indian business was very close to Mr Sarin and he would monitor the progress almost on a weekly basis. Though Mr Sarin did not elaborate on the reasons for the sudden exit, he said “I have come and did what I came to do.”

Sources close to him said that he probably wanted to step down on a high with Vodafone announcing good profits. While Vodafone’s Indian subscriber base almost doubled from 24 million to 45 million over the last one year since the deal with Hutchison was struck, Mr Sarin’s ambition to make Vodafone the number one player in the Indian market remains unfulfilled.

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