By Santosh Menon and Himangshu Watts

BARCELONA/MUMBAI (Reuters) – Vodafone Group Plc has won the battle for a controlling stake in Hutchison Essar, India’s No. 4 mobile operator, with a bid that values it at around $19 billion including debt, a source and India’s Essar group said on Sunday.

A source close to the matter told Reuters that Vodafone had trumped India’s Reliance Communications and Hinduja group, as well as Essar itself, in the race for the 67 percent stake being sold by Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd..

The deal will give the British group, the world’s biggest mobile operator in terms of subscribers outside of China, the opportunity to bring its brand into the world’s fastest-growing and second-biggest mobile market.

The Essar Group, which owns 33 percent of Hutch Essar and had also been bidding, said it was evaluating a proposal from Vodafone to stay on as its partner.

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