The Dutch subsidiary of Vodafone had last month served a notice on the Indian government invoking Bilateral Investment Protection Agreement between India and the Netherlands and threatened international arbitration in the tax case.

India is planning to exclude arbitration clauses from BITs currently under negotiation with the EU, Au Its decision to do so could limit some future liability.

Ruling out any negotiations with Vodafone in the Rs 11,000-crore tax dispute case, the Finance Ministry on Monday said it would reply to the notice given by the British telecom major after passage of the Finance Bill by Parliament.

\"Adding a clause to allow waiver of penalty for deals which took place before April 1, 2012, is being considered by the government,\" a senior Finance Ministry official said.

The Vodafone tax controversy pertains to Mukherjee's Budget proposal to amend the Income Tax Act, 1961 with retrospective effect to bring into tax net overseas mergers and acquisitions involving domestic assets.

Reacting to the notice of Vodafone, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee says as a legal entity the company was entitled to legal recourse.

Vodafone on Tuesday threatened to drag the government to international arbitration over retrospective tax legislation under the bilateral investment treaty between India and the Netherlands.

The company has been handed the death sentence. So why are more people buying its connection than Airtel's or Vodafone's?

Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Mittal's sharp thinking and his ability to see the big picture comes through time and again in a recent one-hour interview he gave BT's Josey Puliyenthuruthel. Edited excerpts:

The British telecom giant gets ready to play the Indian telecom market on its own terms and under its own name.