Nancy Gohring and John Ribeiro

Vodafone Group PLC will acquire 10 percent of Indian mobile and fixed line operator Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd. (BTVL) for 66.56 billion rupees (US$1.48 billion), the company said on Friday. The move marks Vodafone's return to the Indian market after a two-year break. In 2003 it sold its 21 percent stake in a small regional mobile services operator, saying the company did not offer it a strong enough position in the country.