Vodafone seeks extension for tax claim reply

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Vodafone is seeking an extension to Monday's deadline for a tax claim issued by India over the British mobile phone operator's $11.2 billion purchase of Hutchison Telecom's Indian operations in 2007.

"We are working with the tax office to obtain an extension to file a response to the show-cause notice," Vodafone said in a statement.

On Oct. 30, India's tax department issued the notice and said Vodafone needed to comply by Nov. 16.

Vodafone has said it was confident it was not liable for tax on the deal. Indian media have estimated the tax demand at about $2 billion.

(Reporting by Rajesh Kurup; Editing by John Mair and Dan Lalor)