Vodafone and the Essar Group each hired investment banks to put a valuation on Essar's 33 per cent stake in their Indian mobile joint venture, Vodafone Essar. The operator is the second largest in India by revenue. Essar claims that Vodafone is trying to buy out its stake at "artificially depressed value," and the two companies have been at odds over Essar's plans to put a third of its stake in the joint venture into India Securities Limited, a small public company controlled by Essar. Article