No disengagement talks with Vodafone yet: Mittal

Bharti Airtel chairman ruled out having started disengagement talks with Vodafone.

Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Mittal on Wednesday ruled out having started disengagement talks with Vodafone, which holds 10 per cent stake in the company.

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"There is no question of Vodafone selling Bharti stake at this stage. Naturally there is no disengagement talks as such," he told reporters after a meeting with Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin in New Delhi.

Sarin arrived in New Delhi early on Wednesday morning to hold talks with Indian leaders and Hutch-Essar officials ahead of his company's bid to acquire the country's fourth largest mobile firm.

"We will bid for whatever (stake) is available... In the next few weeks," Sarin said on his arrival.

Mittal too acknowledged that Vodafone has "got to be serious about bidding for Hutch-Essar." The Bharti chief also ruled out the role of Singapore's Singtel in the disengagement talks.

"Singtel doesn't need to be involved for these talks," he said.