Sarin, Ruia meet Maran

British mobile giant Vodafone's CEO Arun Sarin and Essar Group vice chairman Ravi Ruia met Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran today, and are understood to have briefed him about future plans of their joint venture.

Earlier, in the morning after reaching here, Sarin struck an optimistic note about signing a deal with Essar for jointly running India's fourth largest mobile firm, to be called Vodafone Essar.

"...Hopefully, that is something we might be doing here," Sarin told reporters. He is scheduled to announce, this afternoon, a partnership deal with the Essar Group, which owns 33% stake in the venture. "Wait till 3 pm today," Sarin told reporters after meeting Maran when asked about the day's agenda.

Last month, the UK giant had clinched a deal to acquire 67% controlling stake in Hutch-Essar from Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecom International.

Sarin is expected to fly to Mumbai later this evening where the Ruias are hosting a dinner for him.