Vodafone Told to Set Aside $554 Million in India Tax

Vodafone Group Plc, the world’s biggest mobile-phone company by sales, was ordered by India’s Supreme Court to pay a deposit while it challenges a tax bill for the country’s largest cross-border deal.

A Supreme Court panel headed by Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia told Vodafone today it has to set aside 25 billion rupees ($554 million) with the court within three weeks and submit bank guarantees for 85 billion rupees in eight weeks. India is seeking 112 billion rupees on Vodafone’s purchase of Hutchison Whampoa Ltd.’s local mobile-phone unit three years ago.