The Hinduja Group, which has evinced interest in acquiring India's fourth-largest mobile operator Hutchison Essar, is also considering buying part of a controlling stake in Telecom Italia, media reports said here.The conglomerate, whose interest is preliminary for now, is the latest to join the list of potential suitors for Italy's dominant telecom operator, Financial Times reported today.When contacted, a senior Hinduja group official declined to comment on the report.The British daily reported that private equity group Blackstone had said in November 2006 it might be interested in taking a stake in Telecom Italia.The telecom firm's biggest shareholder is controlled by Italian tyre and real estate group Pirelli. Hinduja is not engaged in direct discussions with Pirelli but people close to the companies involved said there had been consultations and Hinduja was studying the viability of a deal, the report said.Marco Tronchetti Provera, the Pirelli chairman who resigned as chairman of TI in September, has said he could seek minority investors in Olimpia, a holding company through which Pirelli exercises control over TI.Provera has also acknowledged he could sell out the entire stake for the right price, the FT report said.
