Finance ministry prioritising resolution of tax disputes - telecoms minister

REUTERS - The finance ministry has prioritised resolution of tax disputes involving telecoms companies, telecoms minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Tuesday.

Vodafone Group PLC became India's largest overseas corporate investor when it acquired Hutchison Whampoa's <0013.HK> Indian mobile assets in 2007 as part of its strategy of chasing growth in emerging markets.

Indian authorities argued that the transaction was liable to be taxed in India. Vodafone rejected the claim, saying that even if tax was due, it should be paid for by the seller rather than the buyer. The $2.2 billion standoff has played out in courts across the country ever since.

 

(Reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh in Delhi and Nivedita Bhattacharjee in Mumbai; Editing by Michael Urquhart)