India has allowed 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in telecom: At a meeting held by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Chaired by the Prime Minister, there was agreement on allowing 100% FDI in "Basic and Cellular Services", of which 49% FDI is allowed through the automatic route, and for increasing stake up to 100%, companies with have to go through the bureaucratic process of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board. Prior to this, India only allowed 74% FDI in telecom. Details: Announcement, Annexure (the link they've given doesn't work) Acquisitions That May Follow Foreign telcos will buy out Indian shareholders: Given that the foreign telecom operators held 74% in their Indian telecom operations, it is likely that they will buy out their Indian stakeholders. This means that: - Vodafone will buy out the 11% stake held by the Piramal Group, and whatever else is still held by the Essar Group. Vodafone India is the second largest telco in the country, with around 146 million active connections at the end of April 2013. - Telenor holds 74% in Telewings Communications Pvt Ltd, the joint venture it formed with Lakshdeep Investments & Finance (from the Sun Pharma founders), after a bitter battle with previous Indian partner, Unitech. A Telenor vs Unitech timeline here. Uninor had 31.68 million active connections in India at the end of April 2013. - Russian conglomerate Sistema holds a 73.71% stake in Shyam Sistema in partnership with Shyam Telelink, and operates under the MTS brand. It was the only applicant for CDMA spectrum…
