Vodafone announced today that it has agreed to acquire a controlling interest in Hutchison Essar Limited, a leading operator in the Indian mobile market, via its subsidiary Vodafone International Holdings B.V.

The FTSE 100 Index ended a choppy week in positive mood today as it broke through the 5200 barrier buoyed by a strong session on Wall Street and impressive gains by drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline.

Vodafone has targeted the rapidly-expanding mobile phone market in India today by paying £820m (€1.2bn) for a 10% stake in the country’s largest operator.