As reported by Business Standard, one of the leading dailies in the country, Vodafone Group Plc is mulling over its options to sell a minority stake of 4.39 per cent held by it in India's largest telecom service provider Bharti Airtel.

At current market price the stake would fetch around $1.1 billion (Rs. 5,200 crore) to Vodafone.

Though Business Standard did not disclose its source for the information, it did mention that the move is a part of Vodafone's strategy to exit from the company's small ticket investments across the globe.

Earlier, in 2005, Vodafone had picked up a 10 per cent stake in Bharti Airtel for $1.5 billion by adopting both direct and indirect routes. But it sold half of the same later when it entered India signing a joint venture with Essar.

The stake that Vodafone currently holds in Bharti is through unlisted Bharti Telecom.

Both Vodafone and Bharti Airtel officials were not available for a comment on the issue. However, the market seems to have accepted the news with a positive note as Bharti's stock was trading around two per cent up at Rs. 319.95 (1130 IST) at the Bombay Stock Exchange.